TORNTO FRINGE - 'MOLLY BLOOM'

presents

'MOLLY BLOOM'

at the Toronto Fringe

HELEN GARDINER PHELAN ​PLAYHOUSE 79 St George st. July 3 8pm July 5 10pm July 7 8:15pm July 9 4:30pm July 10 6:30pm July 12 10:30pm July 13 8:30pm

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“Genius.” “Bawdy.” “Nothing but praise.” - Mooney on Theatre

​Molly Bloom is an original adaptation of James Joyce's Ulysses’ final chapter. Four actors collectively play the consciousness of Molly Bloom as she lies awake in bed in this sensual and shocking exploration of one woman’s psyche. As the four women move and speak as one, Joyce’s infamous soliloquy is refashioned into a four person one-woman show. Molly Bloom is a fascinating, vivacious, and hilarious race through one hour of unrelenting thought.

DIRECTOR'S NOTE:

In 2014, a year of studying Ulysses with historian Peter Wylde cumulated in a staged reading of select excerpts from Joyce’s infamous novel. The final of these excerpts was the origin of what you are going to see today. Seven women (Annie Tuma, Caitlin Fysh, Jocelyn Adema, Lena Maripuu, Priscilla Taylor, Reanne Spitzer, and Sarah Doyle) gave breath and life to “Penelope”, the episode written as a stream of consciousness, charting the thoughts of Molly Bloom as she lies sleepless in bed. The text is so beautiful, so fertile, so intoxicating, that as we brought Molly to life, she brought something alive in us. We found ourselves wanting to let Molly speak again, and so a second staged reading was performed at Hub 14 on Bloomsday, June 16, 2015. Yet still the voice of Molly in us nagged, wanting more.

I decided to helm Molly’s next incarnation as a staged production. The original seven actors had whittled down to four, and I saw an exciting opportunity to get inside Molly’s head and give character to her thoughts. Creating identities for Molly’s thoughts gave us as women an opportunity to own the stories of our bodies and make our bodies heard. It’s been an inspiring process. This show has since performed in the In the Soil Festival, then for a three week run at Toronto’s Majlis Art Garden.

We now are performing at the Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse in the Toronto Fringe. We have a new team - Beatriz Arevalo is creating the scenography, Logan Raju Cracknell (again, thank god) is lighting us up, Kathleen Jones keeps us in tip-top shape, and Jenna Lee is lighting up a new cortex in the Molly Brain. But we stand on the shoulders of all of the artists who have contributed to this project’s five-year development: Peter Wylde, Jesse Beam, Priscilla Taylor, Sarah Bridget Doyle, Caitlin Fysh, Logan Raju Cracknell, Alex Norton, Niki Nikita, Blair Bouskill, Nick Boon, David Hoekstra, Hub 14, In the Soil Festival, Monica Dufault, Majlis Art Garden, The Watson Hub, and many more. Our new team is a reflection of how far this show has come. It is a testament to the diligence, rigour, and integrity of these fine artists, that I’m beyond honoured to call my colleagues.

Thank you for joining us in Molly’s current incarnation.
Who knows when she will come again?

JOCELYN ADEMA

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Directed & Adapted by:

Jocelyn Adema

Performed by:

Annie Tuma

Jenna- Lee Hyde

Lena Maripuu

Reanne Spitzer

Stage Managed By:

Kathleen Jones

Set & Costume Design by:

Beatriz Arevalo

Lighting Design:

Logan Cracknell

for more info see;
https://www.fourthgorgontheatre.com