Writer: James Joyce (adapted for stage by Liam Hourican)
Director: Liam Hourican
Go see this accessible lunchtime play, part of the Joyce Bloomsday Festival. The Volta Theatre Company offers stage adaptations of Joyce’s works. Their version of the Cyclops episode from Ulysses is hugely entertaining. A group of men are in an Irish pub and their fast paced, witty talk reflects the life and times of Dublin in 1904.
The three main characters, Citizen, Joe Hynes and Narrator, discuss a range of topics and become more eloquent as the drink flows. Their narrow views on nationalism, sport, gambling, politics, capital punishment, religion and Irish history are all delivered with power and impressive volubility by Jim Roche, Danny Kehoe, Liam Hourican and Damien Devaney. In particular, Citizen’s belligerent, bellicose rantings epitomise a one-eyed, ‘Cyclopean’ vision of humanity. While humourous, the inflated, exaggerated language satirises the men and their viewpoints and renders them ridiculous.
Bloom enters and his contributions to the conversations present a more thoughtful, clearer vision of the complexity of human nature. Bloom declines to participate in the round system of buying drinks and becomes a focus for an anti-Semitic diatribe from Citizen, who, ironically, does not buy a round of drink despite drinking copiously. The escalating violent language results in Bloom being shepherded from the pub while listing famous Jews including Christ which incites Citizen to throw a biscuit tin at the departing carriage. (This echoes the Greek myth of Cyclops hurling stones at Ulysses’s ship.)
The energy the actors infuse to this short scene makes a brilliant introduction to Joyce’s Ulysses for those who haven’t read it. For aficionados of Joyce, it is a captivating dramatisation of Joyce’s dexterity with language.
The focus of the play is on language and the pub setting is simply created by Colm Maher’s atmospheric lighting. Two musicians accompany the performance, Conor Sheil and Feilimidh Nunan, adding a nod to Joyce’s love of music. The attention to costume is notable and accentuates the otherness Bloom experiences. The tweed clad, flat cap drinkers contrast with Bloom’s black suit and bowler hat.
Overall, Cyclops is an excellent, professional and topical production. Put it on your ‘to go to’ list.
Runs Until 16th June 2026.
