The Here Comes Everybody Players
 The Here Comes Everybody Players 
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Past Performances
    • James Joyce International Symposium June 2018
    • Lit Crawl Boston 2017
    • Lit Crawl Boston 2016
    • Music Poetry and Prose from Ireland
    • Passages from Finnegans Wake - MSA 17
    • Out of Bounds
    • Terminus, by Mark O'Rowe, September 2014
    • Bloomsday Festival 2014, Dublin
    • Crossroads - an Evening of Irish Theatre and Music >
      • Ithaca
      • Translations Act II, Scene 1
      • Love in Glass Jar
      • Penelope (Molly Bloom's Soliloquy)
    • Bloomsday Festival 2013, Dublin
    • Passages from Finnegans Wake - a free adaptation of the Theater
    • Framingham State University, Irish Literature Class
    • Bloomsday 2012, Boston
  • Music
  • Repertoire
  • Performers
  • Like to work with us?
  • Contact Us
  • Reservations
  • Lit Crawl Boston 2017
Bringing the literary work of James Joyce and other Irish authors, playwrights and poets to the stage for both academic and general audiences
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RSVP
To RSVP for 12 November performance of  Women's Voices in Modern Irish Poetry click on RSVP button above
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All on-line using Zoom and free to all.

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LINKS WITH PAST PERFORMANCES
A New Day Will Be
A New Day Will Be is a a 3½ minute film created by the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and the Museum of Irish Literature Ireland (MoLI) in Dublin for Bloomsday 2020 (June 16), responding to the global pandemic using words from James Joyce’s Ulysses spoken by many performers in many languages in many locations all over the world.  Using Joyce’s timeless words to create a contemporary take on Ulysses, performers from more than 40 locations across six continents join together to chart our universal, shared humanity as we journey through these extraordinary times: from silence, isolation, the desire for human touch and the quest for a vaccine, through remembrance and resilience, to hope, love and finally affirmation.

The Here Comes Everybody Players actor Donal O’Sullivan appears briefly in the Copp’s Hill Burying Ground in Boston’s North End.  Other performers, in other worldwide locations include actors Olwen Fouéré and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor; former US Democratic Presidential candidates Pete Buttigieg and Beto O’Rourke; novelist Colum McCann; leading actors from continental Europe. For the Boston segment, Cathal Stephens directed and the cinematographer was Thorsten Thielow.
Finnegans Wake, early pages
PictureArtwork for Waywords & Meansigns by Heather Ryan Kelley
Finnegans Wake ...in on-line audio!

The Here Comes Everybody Players contributed the opening pages of the "Open-door edition" of Waywords and Meansigns, an on-line recording of Finnegans Wake set to music, "in its Whole Wholume". HCE Players music and spoken word contribution encompasses the first eight pages of the book, including the first "Thunderword" and the Willingdone Museyroom.  The edition was launched on line on May 4, 2017 (the anniversary of the publication of Finnegans Wake in 1939).  To listen go to:  www.waywordsandmeansigns.com/listen/opendoor-edition/ ​HCE Players' piece is first track.

“A way a lone a last a loved a long the,” read the first words, here lilted by a female representative of the Here Come Everybody Players midst Celtic instrumentation before her compatriots follow along: “riverrun, past Eve and Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.” The troupe, professional Joyce interpreters, veer from spectral tones befitting Lord Of The Rings narration past rough-and-tumble sea shanties to a place far weirder and darker than any audio book dare dream.
Jay Horton,  Music review, Paste Magazine, May 12, 2017

Don't dip your toes into the fast-flowing waters of the Wake. Plunge in. The HCE Players's powerful dramatization gives you the full immersive experience.  It's not just reading, it's not merely hearing, -- the HCE Players bring you as near as you'll get to actually experiencing the exhilarating energy of Joyce's colliderscape. 
 
 Joseph Nugent, Assistant Professor, Irish Studies Program and English Department, Boston College

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Bloomsday 2019 at PWC, Dublin photo: Mark Simpson
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Recent Performances

Ivy Day in the Committee Room

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A Live performance on Zoom, 6 October, 2020, in collaboration with the Consulate General of Ireland, Boston; The James Joyce Centre, Dublin and Joyceborough, Dublin.

The Uniquely Irish Humour of Flann O'Brien
A live performance on Zoom, 22 Sept 2020 in collaboration with the Consulate General of Ireland, Boston


The Here Comes Everybody Players in the Global Pandemic Lockdown

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Since March 2020, when live performances have become impossible, members of The Here Comes Everybody Players have been reading the work of James Joyce and other authors on-line, using platforms such as Zoom, with groups such as The Thirsty Scholars (Boston); The James Joyce Centre Dublin; Joyceborough (Dublin) and the Irish Cultural Centre (Canton MA).

Imbolc 2020, February 1, 2020

To celebrate February 1, St Briget's Day, members of the Here Comes Everybody Players appeared at the Irish Cultural Center, Canton MA, where the ancient Celtic Festival was celebrated with music, song and poetry.

Samhain 2019, October 31 2019
To celebrate the beginning of winter, members of the Here Comes Everybody Players appeared at the Irish Cultural Center, Canton MA, where the ancient Celtic Festival was celebrated with music, song and poetry. 

​Visit of LE Samuel Beckett to Boston, October 2019
Here Comes Everybody players actors, Donal O'Sullivan and Ann Carpenter performed pieces by Samuel Beckett and James Joyce on board the Irish Navel vessel, L.E. Samuel Beckett on the occasion of the ship's first visit to Boston, October 2019

Bloomsday Festival, Dublin, June 12 - 16, 2019
Bloomsday at the James Joyce Centre 
Cathal Stephens of the Here Comes Everybody Players entertained visitors to the James Joyce Centre with stories about James Joyce and the Centre and performing short extracts from Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.

 When:                                           June 16, 2019, 10.30am and 2pm, 
 Where:                                          James Joyce Centre, N. Gt. Georges St., Dublin, Ireland  
 Link:
  http://www.bloomsdayfestival.ie/bloomsday-2019-programme/2019/6/16/bloomsday-at-the-james-joyce-centre

Bloomsday at PWC, Dublin
Cathal Stephens of the Here Comes Everybody Players, performed excerpts from Ulysses, Finnegans Wake and A Portrait of the Artist of a Young Man at this 3-part celebration of Bloomsday for staff, clients and friends of the multi-national accountancy and consulting firm, PWC.  Friday, June 14, 2019.

Of Thyme and Rosemary,   A one-act play by Debbie Wiess.  
An informal rehearsed reading of the play ‘Of Thyme and Rosemary’, a conversation between James Joyce and Marcel Proust. The authors first met on 18 May 1922 at a private dinner party at the Hotel Majestic in Paris.  Among the guests were fellow icons of Modernism Diaghilev, Stravinsky and Picasso. Featuring Jack Walsh as Proust and Cathal Stephens of the HCE Players as Joyce. 

 When:                              June 13, 2019, 1.05 PM
 Where:                            James Joyce Centre, N. Gt. Georges St., Dublin, Ireland  
 Link                                        https://jamesjoyce.ie/event/bloomsdayfestival.ie

Bloomsday Readings and Songs at the Irish Cultural Center, Canton Massachusetts
Donal O'Sullivan, Zoe Clark and Matthew Barrieau of the Here Comes Everybody Players celebrated Bloomsday 2019 with readings from Ulysses and performances from the work of James Joyce in the "Irish Cottage" at the Irish Cultural Center. 
 When:                                          June 16, 2019, 
 Where:                                        Irish Cultural Center, Canton Massachusetts

Lit Crawl Boston 2019
Contemporary Poetry from Ireland with Music

Read by members of the The Here Comes Everybody Players

​Lit Crawl Boston 2019—produced in partnership with the Boston Book Festival and the Boston Literary District—is a free night out for book lovers. Readers chose from three evening sessions featuring unique literary events (one provided by the HCE Players): poetry, performances, games, readings, and more. 
Boston’s Back Bay was the venue each unique venue—from furniture stores to salons. 
The HCE Players presentation featured modern Irish poetry that reflects the energy and freshness of a changing society and how these changes are addressed by a new generation of younger poets, mostly women. The experience of motherhood, the question of the Irish language, the pull of the past, and the dilemmas of the present are treated with passion, lyricism, simplicity, and humor, punctuated with traditional Irish music.
 When:                                                 June 6, 2019, 6 PM
 Where:                                                Newbury Comics, 348 Newbury St, Boston 
 USA                a
 Link:                                                    https://bostonbookfest.org/year-round-events/lit-crawl-boston/​

Finnegans Wake End, Dublin, May 4, 2019

Circling the Wake at James Joyce Centre
(Part of the Finnegans Wake End, celebrating the 80th anniversary of the publication of Finnegans Wake)

Circling the Wake was evening for both seasoned readers and newcomers to Finnegans Wake. This epic piece of literature has baffled and delighted countless readers. Readings and performances throughout the evening will open up the text. The Finnegan Wakes Film Project will continue with Everybody invited to read a full page to a piece of wordless music that has impacted on their life. Darina Gallagher and Sinead Murphy from Songs of Joyce will perform excerpts from their Misses Liffey show, which brings us on a riverrun journey through the city of Dublin. They’ll introducing us to many of James Joyce’s women characters that live, work, sing and laugh along her banks. The evening will also include performances from Cathal Stephens of The Here Comes Everybody Players and Breda Cannon-Courtney and Bertha Reilly of Wilde Irish Productions.

 When:                                            May 4, 2019, 8 PM
 Where:                                          James Joyce Centre, N. Gt. Georges St., Dublin, Ireland 
 Link:                                                   https://jamesjoyce.ie/event/finnegans-wake-end/
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Joyce and Flann - An Insoluble Pancake

Donal O'Sullivan represented The Here Comes Everybody Players at this Literary Symposium, at Boston College, reading excerpts from Finnegans Wake.
 When:                                                  March 30, 2019
 Where:                                                 Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA                   
 

The Art of James Joyce - 26th Annual James Joyce Symposium

The Here Comes Everybody Players was represented at the 26th International James Joyce Symposium, The Art of James Joyce this year in Antwerp, Belgium
 When:                                                   June 11 - 16, 2018
 Where:                                                  University of Antwerp                    
 
 Link:                                                      uahost.uantwerpen.be/joyce2018/
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We were represented in Antwerp by Cahal Stephens who performed a solo piece, Parodies and lists in Cyclops and elsewhere in Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.   He also performed in the concluding "Happening" of the Symposium, So Prettly Prattly Pollylogue, as part of the 8-person Waywords and Meansigns ensemble, performing an improv multi-media piece based on Finnegans Wake

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The Here Comes Everybody Players participation in this conference was supported by the Toronto 2017 Diasporic Joyce Travel Grant to Artists.




Joyce and Journalism Conference
The Here Comes Everybody Players performed a piece called Murder, Marriage and Mammamuscles Most Mouseterious, featuring vignettes from Ulysses, Finnegans Wake and Joyce's writing in Il Piccollo della Sera. the HCE Players appearance was part of a full-day academic conference at Boston College entitled James Joyce and Journalism. 
When:                      Saturday, April 21, 2018; 9 AM - 4 PM
Where:                   Connolly House, 300 Hammond St. (Boston College), Chestnut Hill, MA                      

Link:                        http://events.bc.edu/event/joyce_and_journalism_conference#.WtJ6tq3Mwcg

St. Parick's Day Weekend 2018
The Here Comes Everybody Players appeared at the Aeronaut Brewing Company's St. Patrick's Day weekend celebrations in a lighthearted interpretation of selections from James Joyce's work, complete with music by the Here Comes Everybody Trio and audience participation.

When:          Sunday, March 18, 2018; 4 - 5 PM 
Where:        The Aeronaut Brewing Company, 
14 Tyler Street, Somerville MA 02143                    
Link             https://www.aeronautbrewing.com/events/
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Of Thyme and Rosemary - a conversation between James Joyce and Marcel Proust
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Written and directed by Debra Weiss, the one-act play was presented as a staged reading at two venues in March with Donal O'Sullivan as James Joyce and Cahal Stephens as Marcel Proust.  A discussion with the author and the actors followed each performance.

When:       
Tuesday, Mar. 13, 2018; at The Boston Atheneum, 10 1/2 Beacon St Boston and
                 Tuesday, Mar. 20, 2018; at The Boston Playwrights Theatre, 949 Comm. Ave., Boston               
                 music by The Here Comes Everybody Trio (Lidia Chang, Tony Keegan and Sean Connor)                



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Emma MacKenzie as Anna Livia; Photo: Debra Weiss
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Kevin Kordis, Emma MacKenzie and Cahal Stephens in "Counterparts" from Dubliners; Photo: June Cloutier
PictureLit Crawl Boston 2017; Donal O'Sullivan as Fr. Arnall from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (photo Karen Moore)
The Complete Works of James Joyce in under 60 minutes - with music 

In association with The Thirsty Scholars* (a Finnegans Wake Reading Group) celebrating the completion of the group's eight-year long reading of the book.
Featuring excerpts from all of Joyce's books including 
Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as A Young Man, Ulysses, Exiles and especially Finnegans Wake.

When:            Wednesday, February 21, 2018;  
Where:           Shahe Hall, Holy Trinity Armenian Church Campus, 145 Brattle Street, Cambridge MA, 02138  
                   

Excerpts from each of Joyce's books, Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses, Finnegans Wake and Exiles included audience participation and music.  A light hearted but deep dive into Joyce's extraordinary and varied literary works including music and audience participation.  
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*Meeting every Tuesday, the Thirsty Scholars have finished reading every page of Finnegans Wake twice over 22 years. Now while celebrating the completion of the second reading, they welcome new members as they prepare to begin a third round of reading this unique book.

HCE Players performers included:
Bill Conley; Sean Connor; Tony Keegan; Kevin Kordis; Emma Jayne McKenzie; Donal O'Sullivan and Cahal Stephens.

Lit Crawl Boston, October 2017

The Complete Works of James Joyce in 44 minutes – with Music! 

For the 2017 Lit Crawl, The Here Comes Everybody Players performed excerpts from Dubliners, Finnegans Wake, A Portrait of the Artist as A Young Man, Exiles and Finnegans Wake

Lit Crawl Boston 2017 - the second annual night of irreverent literary programming in Boston’s Back Bay.  From 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., intrepid readers could choose from a variety of unique literary events including games, performances, provocations and other oddities, all in surprising venues ranging from cafes and art galleries to barbershops and shoe stores.

When:          October 26, 2017; 7:30 PM
Where:         Barbershop Lounge, 245 Newbury St., Boston

http://www.litquake.org/events/lit-crawl-boston
http://www.bostonbackbay.com/event/lit-crawl-boston/
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https://www.facebook.com/LitCrawlBoston/?ref=bookmarks


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At Diasporic Joyce Conference, Toronto, June 21 - 25, 2017. " Of Thyme and Rosemary" (above); "The Forester's Wedding" (from Ulysses, right) with Lucia Smith and Cahal Stephens.
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Diasporic Joyce, North American Joyce Conference, Toronto, June 21 - 25, 2017.
The Here Comes Everybody Players were the "resident players" at this conference at Victoria College, University of Toronto.  Performances included:
-  Of Thyme and Rosemary - a conversation between James Joyce and Marcel Proust, 
a new play, written and directed by Debra Weiss, a staged reading with Donal O'Sullivan as James Joyce and Cahal Stephens as Marcel Proust.
-  An Evening of Words and Songs, with Michelle Widden, Soprano, Sebastian Knowles, pianist and The Here Comes Everybody Players (Donal O'Sullivan; Lucia Smyth and Cahal Stephens)
-  Several informal performances and reading of the works of Joyce at various times throughout the conference.

https://diasporicjoyce.wordpress.com

Bloomsday 2017, Dublin  For the fifth consecutive year, the Here Comes Everybody Players were represented at Dublin's Bloomsday celebrations under the auspices of the James Joyce Centre (http://jamesjoyce.ie) and the Upper Leeson Street Area Residents Association (ULSARA; www.ulsara.ie).
Performances included:
- Public readings and performances from Ulysses, Meetinghouse Square, Dublin 2, June 16, 2017
- Performances at the James Joyce Centre, Dublin 1, June 16, 2017
- Performance of parodies from the Cyclops episode of Ulysses, Dartmouth Square Tea Party, Dublin 6, June 17, 2017 

Waywords and Meansigns  recreating Finnegans Wake [in its Whole Wholume]  A diverse cast of musicians, readers, and artists are creating what may be the year’s most innovative musical-literary project: James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake set to music. The Here Comes Everybody Players  music and spoken word contribution encompasses the first eight pages of the book. See more details at top of this page.        
​Launched on-line:  May 4, 2017 
www.waywardsandmeansigns.com

Joycespring - an introduction, through drama, to the works of James Joyce.  Sponsored by the Amherst Irish Association as part of the Association's Event Series for 2016 -17.
When:                Sunday April 23, 2017, 2 PM
Where:               Unitarian Universalist Church, Amherst MA
Followed by:       "Tea and Tunes", Complementary tea, scones and Irish music by Le Chéile, 3 - 4 PM

www.amhertirish.org

St. Patrick's Day Music and Poetry from Ireland, including poetry by classic and modern Irish poets.  Presented as part of the Democracy Centre's Aperitif Series of short monthly musical events.
When:               March 17, 2017;  6 PM - 7 PM
Where:              Democracy Center, Mount Auburn St., Cambridge MA 02138

Joycespeed - the Energy of Modernity  the HCE Players performed a stage adaptation of Ithaca, the penultimate chapter of Ulysses, as part of this conference sponsored by the Irish Studies Program at Boston
College. 
When:               Saturday, November 12, 2016
Where:              Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA
http://www.bc.edu/centers/irish/studies/calendar.html


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Photo: June Cloutier

Emma MacKenzie as Bertha and Bill Conley as Richard in the final scene of Exiles, Cambridge MA, February, 2018

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Photo: Debra Weiss

Donal O'Sullivan as Fr. Arnall from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Cambridge MA, 2018



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Photo: Christine Banna
Stephen Reinstein as The Sergeant and Josh Way as A Ragged Man in The Rising of the Moon by Augusta Lady Gregory in Out of Bounds - an Evening of Irish Music & Theatre, IIIC, Boston, December, 2014

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