Bloomsday in Melbourne

The centrepiece of the Ulysses Centenary celebration (2 Feb. 2022) is a play, 'Love's Bitter Mystery: The Year that Made James Joyce'. With huge regret and frustration, Bloomsday in Melbourne has been forced to cancel the season of this new play, Love's Bitter Mystery. However, it will be resurrected in the medium of film. Watch this space for a gala premiere at the venue for which it was written, Villa Alba (date TBC). Written by Steve Carey and directed by Jennifer Sarah Dean and Associate Editor Carly Ellis, it is an immersive site-specific play written for the spectacular boom era mansion, Villa Alba, in Kew. The mansion provides a setting that beautifully matches the mood of the piece: cold and damp, but also grand and dramatic, like Joyce himself. In fact, Villa Alba was built in the very year Joyce was born, 1882. The play tells the story of the year, 1903-4. in which James Joyce returned to Ireland for the death of his mother and in which he met Nora Barnacle and draws on Joyce's writing from several periods in his career. It's intense and moving. Entry Cost Adult $45 - Not suitable for children under 16 Concession $42 - Not suitable for children under 16