Press release from Asheville Community Theatre:
Steven Dietz’s Irish time-travel love story, Bloomsday, closes out Asheville Community Theatre’s 35below season. The production is directed by Jason Williams who directed last year’s critically acclaimed productions of Constellations in 35below and Peter Pan for the Montford Park Players. The production runs August 3-19, 2018 with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2:30 pm. All tickets are $15.00 and are available at the box office, by phone at 828-254-1320 or online at www.ashevilletheatre.org.
In Bloomsday, Robert returns to Dublin to reunite with Cait, the woman who captured his heart during a James Joyce literary tour thirty-five years ago. Dancing backwards through time, the older couple retrace their steps to discover their younger selves. Through young Robbie and Caithleen, they relive the unlikely, inevitable events that brought them—only briefly—together. This bittersweet Irish love story blends wit, humor, and heartache into a buoyant, moving appeal for making the most of the present before it is past.
The Seattle Times said of the play, “Dietz’s keen wit and unusual format, and his compassion for his characters, make this special – more than the standard tale of an older couple reliving and (perhaps) reviving a lost love…With intricate cleverness, Dietz evokes, mocks, paraphrases and cannily integrates aspects of Joyce’s [Ulysses] into Bloomsday …And Joyce’s manipulations of time and space, subject and object…ingeniously inform the script.”
Emmalie Handley and Connor Nielsen play the young Caithleen and Robbie, while Paula O’Brien and Doug Sparks play the older Cait and Robert.
Director Jason Williams has worked extensively with many local theater companies as a director, actor, or designer. His directing credits include productions of: Peter Pan, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry V, Othello, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, and The Importance of Being Earnest for the Montford Park Players, Constellations, Kimberly Akimbo, and Short Order Durang for 35below, as well as independent productions of The Bald Soprano, My Name is Rachel Corrie, Glengarry Glen Ross, and Suburbia.
Steven Dietz’s plays — which include Yankee Tavern, Becky’s New Car, Last Of The Boys, Lonely Planet, Shooting Star, Private Eyes, Inventing Van Gogh, and The Nina Variations — have been seen at over one hundred regional theatres, as well as Off-Broadway and in fifteen countries internationally. A two-time finalist for the Steinberg New Play Award, Mr. Dietz received the PEN USA Award in Drama for Lonely Planet, and the Edgar Award for Best Mystery Play for Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure. For more information about Bloomsday or about Asheville Community Theatre, please visit www.ashevilletheatre.org
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