James Joyce’s The Dead
It is true, it is true, we are shadows cold and wan / And the fair and the brave whom we loved on earth are gone.
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James Joyce’s short story “The Dead” depicts how a routine holiday tradition can explode with wonderful and terrible new meaning. Written in 1907 and published in Joyce’s landmark 1914 collection Dubliners, “The Dead” has now been adapted for the stage. Titled James Joyce’s The Dead–presumably so audiences will know it’s not a George Romero movie–it premiered in New York in 1999 and is now enjoying its Chicago premiere at Court Theatre.
Set in early-20th-century Dublin, James Joyce’s The Dead takes place at a holiday musicale, an evening of food and song celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany–during which the Joyce-like protagonist, Gabriel Conroy, experiences his own epiphany. Gabriel is the nephew of two of the annual party’s hosts, elderly sisters Julia and Kate Morkan; a teacher and sometime book reviewer, he’s been assigned the task of delivering the after-dinner speech, a tribute to Irish hospitality. Yet Gabriel is far from secure in his Irish identity, feeling little connection to the primitive Irish legacy embodied in his Galway-bred wife, Gretta. Mocked as a “West Briton” by fiery nationalist Molly Ivors, another guest, Gabriel has long adopted an attitude of genial condescension toward all things Irish, including his wife.
James Joyce’s The Dead is billed as a “holiday musical,” but viewers anticipating another Oliver! or Lion King may be disappointed. Holiday musicals are usually feel-good family shows, and this is a somber, thoughtful literary piece for discriminating, mature tastes. I don’t know if it will become a new Christmas tradition, but at least it brings a welcome depth to the season.
