1930s New York was a town of shebeens, jazz, sex and... Ulysses. It was the era of Prohibition, and James Joyce's novel - like liquor - was much in demand, but available only illegally, until one man took a case…
So sets the stage for United States vs Ulysses, a play about the greatest literary trial of the twentieth century, showing one night only at Galway’s Town Hall Theatre, Tuesday, 21 November.
Written by Colin Murphy, and directed by Conall Morrison, the play recounts a feisty young publisher who sailed to Paris to buy the rights from Joyce, hired the best free speech lawyer in the land, and took a legal action to liberate Ulysses from American censorship.
Based on trial records, Murphy depicts lawyers wrestling with determining whether Joyce's character Molly Bloom is obscene. Molly gets under their skin, and into their heads, and the New York court room becomes haunted by the Dubliners of Ulysses.
The play reunites Colin Murphy with director Conall Morrison: their hit productions Guaranteed! and Haughey/Gregory have previously toured to Galway. Janet Moran - currently on screens in The Dry and winner of Best Actress at the Irish Theatre Awards for her performance in Eugene O'Brien's Heaven, which played at the Town Hall last year - stars as Molly.
The play is produced by Once Off Productions. In association with Pavilion Theatre, the producers previously brought the hits Arán agus Im and Man of Aran, Re-imagined to Galway.
Tickets €22 from Town Hall Theatre, www.tht.ie
