Bloomsday Festival 2024: John, May, James and Me

The James Joyce Centre is proud to present a performance of John, May, James and Me by Eddie Naughton.

Stanislaus Joyce was the younger brother of James Joyce. Born in Dublin, Stanislaus was considered a “Whetstone” by his more famous brother, who shared his ideas and his books with him. He was three years younger than James and was his constant boyhood companion. Stanislaus rebelled against his native Ireland as his brother had done, and, in 1905, he joined James’s household in Trieste. He wrote an unfinished memoir called My Brother’s Keeper, on which the play John, May, James and Me by Eddie Naughton is based, along with other writings.

The play looks at the Joyce family dynamic through the eyes of Stanislaus, from their father, John, a feckless Cork character with notions, to the long-suffering mother, May. It also looks in depth at the relationship between the two brothers over many years. Their trials and tribulations. The good times and bad. What was it like having a literary genius as a brother? How do you stop him from destroying his gift and even himself?

Performed by Pat Nolan. Directed by Bairbre Ni Chaoimh.

Tickets are €15.

Eddie Naughton is a playwright based in The Liberties area of Dublin. His play John, May, James and Me is a Joyce family memoir, based on the writings of Stanislaus Joyce. Other plays he has written include Bullfight on Third Avenue, Joxer Daly Esq, The Exiling of Sean O'Casey, Adrian Phelan is Going Home, and a trilogy of drug plays (Franner and Joey, The Boy with the Halogyn Hair and The Trouble with Bobo).

Bairbre Ni Chaoimh is an actor, director and writer. She has toured nationally and internationally with all the major Irish theatre companies. She was an Associate Artist at the Abbey Theatre for three years and while Artistic Director of Calypso Productions she received an Irish Times award and a MAMA. Directing credits include three plays for The Gate Theatre’s Beckett Festival, which toured to The Barbican, London and The Lincoln Center, New York and Catalpa by Donal O’Kelly, which has won awards on three continents. She directed Noni Stapleton’s one-woman show, Charolais which received a host of awards including The Stewart Parker Award and The Little Gem Award. She recently directed the Irish premiere of Stumped, a play about Pinter and Beckett, for Bewleys Café Theatre.

Pat Nolan trained at DYT and The Focus Stanislavski Studio and appeared in many of their shows. He has an MA in Theatre from GSA/Maynooth University. He has acted, directed, and produced shows nationally and internationally. Stage work includes Cinderella and Borstal Boy at the Gaiety, 12 Angry Men at the Olympia, Risk Everything with Whirlygig, Uncle Vanya at the Gate, Oedipus and The Wake at the Abbey. He toured extensively with Take Off Your Cornflakes. Probably best known to audiences for playing Barry in Fair City, for which he won the Rose d’Or award in Switzerland.

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.