Joyce's Dubliners to open theatre festival

An adaptation of Dubliners by James Joyce is to open the capital’s theatre festival.

An adaptation of Dubliners by James Joyce is to open the capital’s theatre festival.

The event, now in its 55th year, will run for 18 days from September 27th with new and popular pieces at various venues across the city.

Dublin Theatre Festival aims to celebrate Your City, Your Stories, by putting the capital at the heart of the theatrical spectacular.

Willie White, its new artistic director, said Dublin city was constantly changing.

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“New stories are being written every day in our lives and the lives of those around us,” he said.

“Over the 18 days of the festival, we are inviting people living in, working in or visiting Dublin to experience some of those stories, to take a look at familiar tales reimagined and to discover new ones yet to be heard.

“It is fitting to be launching this programme in Dublin’s iconic City Hall and to open the 2012 festival with a new adaptation of James Joyce’s Dubliners in the Gaiety Theatre.

“The city and the festival are on a journey,” he added.

The Corn Exchange production of Joyce’s iconic stories is among a collection of Irish and international works being staged for the influx of theatre fans from across the world.

Dubliners, first published in 1914, is a collection of 15 short stories by Joyce, depicting life in and around the city in the early years of the 20th century.

A central theme is the writer’s idea of epiphanies - moments where a character experiences self-understanding or illumination.

Highlights from home-grown talent include the only Dublin dates for the hugely successful DruidMurphy and the debut production from new Irish Opera company Wide Open Opera.

Elsewhere, renowned US company The Wooster Group will make its first visit to Ireland, which is internationally renowned for reimagining classic and devised texts.

And the UK’s Fuel and Inua Ellams will present the 14th Tale, a feat of playful storytelling, a poetic journey of family life, friendship and love.

Children and families can also experience the best of international productions from Scotland, Belgium and the UK at The Ark.

General tickets are on sale from August 15th, with priority booking for friends of the festival starting tomorrow.

Organisers said the festival was setting out to capture the changing mood of Dublin.

A giant neon smiley face, Public Face III, will adorn Dublin’s skyline over the two-and-a-half weeks which, using sophisticated software to read facial expressions of passers-by, will capture the humour of Dublin and Dubliners throughout the day and night.

PA