JAMES JOYCE (Writer)
Best known for Ulysses, a landmark work in which the episodes of Homer’s Odyssey are paralleled in an array of contrasting literary styles, James Joyce also wrote the short-story collection Dubliners and the novels A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) and Finnegans Wake (1939). He was once quoted as saying “For myself, I always write about Dublin, because if I can get to the heart of Dublin I can get to the heart of all the cities of the world. In the particular is contained the universal.”
AEDÍN MOLONEY (Adaptor & Performer)
Aedín is an award-winning actress who has performed extensively in theatre, film, audio, and TV in New York, London, and Ireland. She is founder and producing artistic director of New York’s Fallen Angel Theatre Company. In 2017, she released an unabridged audio recording of Molly Bloom’s Soliloquy from Ulysses by James Joyce, “Reflections of Molly Bloom,” with music by her father, Paddy Moloney (The Chieftains). Yes! will be her 10th production with Irish Rep and her first adaptation. Previous performances at Irish Rep include: The Dead: 1904, Dancing at Lughnasa, Playboy of the Western World, Shadow of a Gunman, and Airswimming (a co-production with Fallen Angel). She originated the role of George Eliot in the acclaimed production of A Most Dangerous Woman (Best Actress 2013 NJ Footlights). Other recent roles of note include Women Without Men (The Mint), The Alchemist (STNJ), When I was a Girl I used to Scream and Shout (Fallen Angel), Under Milk Wood (Hartford Stage). Her TV credits include: The Exorcist, The Knick, The Bill, The Moth, Ballykissangel & Law & Order SVU. Film roles include the role of James Joyce’s sister, Eva, in the movie Nora, Far & Away, and Agnes Browne. She has produced and directed several successful Off-Broadway hits with Fallen Angel Theatre, including My Brilliant Divorce, starring Melissa Gilbert. Aedín was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland.
COLUM MCCANN (Adaptor)
Colum McCann is the author of six novels and three collections of stories. Born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, he has been the recipient of many international honours, including the National Book Award, the International Dublin Impac Prize, a Chevalier des Arts et Lettres from the French government, election to the Irish arts academy, several European awards, the 2010 Best Foreign Novel Award in China, and an Oscar nomination. In 2017 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts. His work has been published in over 40 languages. He is the co-founder of the non-profit global story exchange organisation, Narrative 4, and he teaches at the MFA program in Hunter College. He lives in New York with his wife, Allison, and their three children. http://colummccann.com
GABRIEL BYRNE (Associate Producer) has starred in more than 60 feature films including Miller’s Crossing, The Usual Suspects, Excalibur, Into the West, Little Women, Dead Man, The End of Violence, The Man in the Iron Mask, Vanity Fair, Jindabyne and Wah-Wah. He recently completed The 33 and Louder Than Bombs. On Broadway, Gabriel received Tony nominations for his performance in Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night and Moon for the Misbegotten and he won the Outer Critics Circle Award for his performance in A Touch of the Poet. Gabriel starred as “Dr. Paul Weston” in HBO’s “In Treatment,” for which he received the Golden Globe Award and was nominated twice for the Emmy.