"What a delightful evening! Passages from Finnegans Wake, Mary Manning’s “free adaptation for the theater” of Joyce’s last work, came thrillingly alive in Boston’s Here Comes Everybody Players’ exuberant and creative staged reading at the 2015 Modernist Studies Association conference. For both Wake aficionados and novices, the evening was a real treat."
Michael Groden
Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, Western University Canada
Author of “Ulysses in Progress" and “Ulysses in Focus"
“… an astonishing performance of Mary Manning's Wake on Saturday at the MSA conference”
Professor Joseph Nugent,
Boston College
“A GLORIOUS production, it was tweeted throughout as a huge success by our members”
Professor Paige Reynolds,
Holy Cross College and MSA 17 Organizing Committee Member
Passages from Finnegans Wake, a free adaptation for the Theater, by Mary Manning.
a staged reading for Modernist Studies Association Conference, MSA 17, Boston November, 21 2015. This wild, bawdy, heartbreaking play, closely based on the themes and language of Joyce's extraordinary book was first produced at the Poets' Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1955 and has only occasionally been performed since. The Here Comes Everybody Players first presented a staged reading in 2013 and thank the Modernist Studies Association for the opportunity to perform it again at MSA 17.
Michael Groden
Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, Western University Canada
Author of “Ulysses in Progress" and “Ulysses in Focus"
“… an astonishing performance of Mary Manning's Wake on Saturday at the MSA conference”
Professor Joseph Nugent,
Boston College
“A GLORIOUS production, it was tweeted throughout as a huge success by our members”
Professor Paige Reynolds,
Holy Cross College and MSA 17 Organizing Committee Member
Passages from Finnegans Wake, a free adaptation for the Theater, by Mary Manning.
a staged reading for Modernist Studies Association Conference, MSA 17, Boston November, 21 2015. This wild, bawdy, heartbreaking play, closely based on the themes and language of Joyce's extraordinary book was first produced at the Poets' Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1955 and has only occasionally been performed since. The Here Comes Everybody Players first presented a staged reading in 2013 and thank the Modernist Studies Association for the opportunity to perform it again at MSA 17.
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Program
Scenes 1 & 2 The Wake, Afternoon In which the late Finnegan is waked by his widow, Anna Livia Plurabelle, his sons Shem and Shaun, and his neighbors and is subsequently resurrected as H.C. Earwicker. Scene 3 Anna Livia Plurabelle, Evening In which two washerwomen gossip about Anna Livia, who is also the personification of the River Liffey. Intermission Scene 4 Earwicker and Sons, Night In which Earwicker, Shem, Shaun, and others continue reveling late into the night. Scene 5 Earwicker’s Dreams, Night In which Shem and Shaun discuss their relationship, the tale of Tristan and Iseult is retold, and several provocative academic lectures are enthusiastically received. Scene 6 The Morning After In which members of the Wake arise after their night of debauchery and Anna Livia, the woman/ the river, returns to her father, the sea. |
Cast
(in order of appearance) Finnegan and Humphrey Chimpenden Earwicker (HCE) Donal O’Sullivan First Dubliner Cahal Stephens Second Dubliner Kevin Fennessy Chorus, Radio Announcer, Many Others Rachel Sacks Shem Stephen Reinstein Shaun Josh Way Young Anna Livia Plurabelle (ALP) the younger (ALP) Korinne Ritchey First Woman Ann Carpenter Second Woman Jean Sheikh Anna Livia Plurabelle (ALP) the older Jean Sheikh Musicians Lidia Chang Flute Sean Connor Fiddle Tony Keegan Percussion (bodhrán, bones, bell) |
