The Citizen’s Breakfast – A Bloomsday Theatre Event returns Sunday June 16th

Photos by James O Neill

This year sees the return of The Citizen’s Breakfast – A Bloomsday Theatre Event on Sunday the 16th of June. Proceedings kick-off with audience members meeting at the Shelbourne Road entrance to the Aviva Stadium. From there the play allows you to walk with James Joyce, finishing up in Slattery’s pub  The play, performed both out in the open and inside Slattery’s pub, marks Bloomsday in 1904 when James Joyce left his lodgings for the first date with his future wife, Nora Barnacle.


The play originated in 2016 and was co-written by Grainne O’Kelly Nugent and Tara Derrington. The duo quickly got two distinguished actors – Fiona Browne and Damien Devaney – on board and successfully launched a promenade play on the street. The play took a break in 2017 but promptly returned in 2018 to much acclaim and success and now is back to ring in Bloomsday in great style and fun once again.

Speaking to co-creator Grainne O’Kelly Nugent, she tells me that the main motivation for her doing the play was: “to take a step away from the lofty and highbrow approach and to make it a community thing.” She adds that she wanted to “bring James Joyce back to the street he walked on in 1904” and that she likes the effect of “people being able to get it, enjoy it, laugh at it and for it not to be too academic.” Ms. O’Kelly Nugent also tells me that she would particularly love to see more people from the Ringsend and Irishtown communities take part. She is also keen to stress that if it weren’t for the Aviva Stadium community fund and Slattery’s pub & other local businesses in Beggars Bush she would not be able to produce this community play.

Audience members are encouraged to: “feel free to dress up or down in the style of 1904.” There will be two performances of the show on the 16th – one at 10.30 AM and the other at 3PM. It is a pre-ticketed event. Tickets can be bought on 087 2230833 or at https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/3pm-the-citizens-breakfast-tickets-61967023034.

By David Prenderville