Umbrella Theatre Company will perform a new adaptation of James Joyce’s only play, Exiles, during the 2018 Bloomsday Festival period.

EXILED is an adapted and shorter version of Exiles, which was originally written by Joyce in 1914/15.

James Joyce described his play, set in Dublin in the summer of 1912, as three ‘cat and mouse’ acts. This new adaptation, by Gerard Dalton, concentrates on the intriguing relationship between the three main characters: Richard Rowan, Bertha and Robert Hand and is set in the present time.

Richard Rowan, a writer, left Dublin for Rome nine years ago, following the collapse of the Celtic Tiger. He has since enjoyed success with two celebrated books and has been invited back to Dublin with the prospect of securing a Professorship in Modern Literature. Robert Hand has laid the groundwork for Richard’s return home. They are old friends and studied English together at university. Robert had aspirations of becoming a successful writer too but has contented himself with a job in journalism and book/theatre criticism. Bertha met Richard and Robert in Dublin, a little over ten years ago. She chose to go away and live with Richard in Rome and has a child called Archie, who is now eight years old. Back in each other’s company after many years, the three characters grapple with the notion that love holds no bonds and therefore should know no bounds, evoking themes of betrayal, doubt and ultimate truth.

Written after the completion of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and just before beginning Ulysses, Exiles has rarely been performed and explored, perhaps because of the emphasis and influence of Joyce’s other work.

This new adaptation is set in Dublin in 2018.

Duration: 90 minutes.

Cast: Ian Condron, Miriam Keegan, Tom Pigot.

Adapted and Directed by Gerard Dalton.

An Umbrella Theatre Company Production.