Singer Imelda May, former Irish president Mary Robinson and journalists Orla Guerin and Miriam O’Callaghan are amongst the leading figures from the worlds of entertainment, politics and the media who will join with scores of talented women from across Europe in an all-female festival in Derry and Donegal next month.
The inaugural YES Festival is inspired by Molly Bloom, James Joyce’s most famous female character in his powerful novel Ulysses.
Theatres, galleries, music venues, pubs and outdoor spaces will host photography, music, documentary film, DJs, visual and textile art, dance, circus, song and debate in a festive, cultural and spectacle-filled weekend.
YES is the culmination of the Ulysses European Odyssey, a multi-million pound project celebrating Joyce’s 1922 novel.
Beginning in three of the European cities in which it was written - Trieste, Zürich, Paris – the European Commission-funded project involved public events in 18 cities, across 16 European countries, each inspired by Joyce’s epic.
Ulysses European Odyssey was conceived by Seán Doran and Liam Browne, directors of Arts Over Borders, a cross-border arts organisation whose credits include Lughnasa FrielFest.
They are delighted to conclude their Joycean adventure in their home city of Derry.
“It’s the end of quite a journey - the biggest we’ve been involved in, which has taken us into Europe as never before – but one of great satisfaction and transformation.
Creative partners in each city used themes from a specific episode from the 18 episodes in Ulysses as an inspirational springboard for producing bite-sized events in public spaces exploring issues facing contemporary Europe, including mental wellbeing, immigration, gender freedom and climate change.
“It stretched them to do things that they would not normally do and stimulated new active citizenship between the arts and society,” says Doran.
“One such fascinating event was in Marseille, where a performance about immigration and integration was staged in the profound space of an immigration camp.”
Taken from Episode XVIII (Penelope), YES takes the theme The Future: A Female Vision, celebrating female creativity and highlighting social change, in a four-day event in Derry and Donegal from June 13 and 16.
“In the final episode of Ulysses, Molly’s long-and-winding stream of consciousness begins and ends with the word ‘yes’. This inspired us to pull Joyce’s Dublin-based story north to Derry, where ‘yes’ is used as a greeting, a colloquial form of ‘hello’.
“Derry is a female city. Remember the shirt factories? It’s the maiden city, and of course we’ve the Derry Girls. It’s tailor made for Joyce’s final episode,” says Doran.
What does he think Joyce would have made of Lisa McGee’s Derry Girls?
“Humour was a massive thing for Joyce and a way of conveying his concerns. He would write lying down and Nora, his wife, would often hear the laughter coming from his bedroom as he wrote. Joyce found his own writing funny; I think he would have enjoyed Derry Girls.”
Whilst Doran and Browne produce YES, it is led by a team of female curators, including Omagh-born writer Martina Devlin who has put together a leading panel of ladies to take part in the mini-literary event No Ordinary Women.
Derry is a female city. Remember the shirt factories? It’s the maiden city, and of course we’ve the Derry Girls. It’s tailor made for Joyce’s final episode
— Seán Doran
The series of five discussions consider women’s relationship with power in contemporary society, the role of media today, and a possible way forward in a world beset by crises and threats.
The reimagining of Bloomsday to Derry’s bars, school and cemetery and to Donegal’s Iron Age fort, beaches and coastline on June 16, 100 years later, is a bold response for Ireland’s most famous literary date.
“We are excited to be giving Molly Bloom the limelight for once – though we hope this is only the beginning for an annual Molly Bloomsday up north,” says Doran.
A highlight of Molly Bloomsday will be Sirenscircus when Ebrington Square will be filled with over 100 musicians, singers, actors and sounds written by Joyce in his Sirens episode XI – from the clip-clop of horse shoes and rattling trays to ballads and a choir of hiccups.
“Joyce aficionados for the first time will have the opportunity to hear the Sirenscircus as Joyce heard it in his head when writing it,” enthuses Doran, about the new composition by the John Cage Musicircus.
The world premiere of The Molly Films, a new cinematic suite gives a fresh presentation of what is affectionately known as Molly’s Soliloquy.
Directed by young Ukranian Sophie Muzychenkoi, the stand-alone shorts feature a cast of some of Ireland and Britain’s finest actors, including Siobhán McSweeney, Dame Harriet Walter, Fiona Shaw, Adjoa Andoh and Eve Hewson.
Available globally via a link on the festival website home page from June 17, they will be screened in a large headboard within The Molly Bed in Ebrington Barracks.
The Gulliver-size bed is the creation of Derry artist and set designer Tracey Lindsay. It will also have a letterbox pillow, where women are invited to write down their thoughts and aspirations for the future.
In a special closing concert, Dublin singer Imelda May performs an acoustic set, as well as discusses her songwriting and her debut poetry collection, A Lick and A Promise.
Joyce’s key goal with his work was that it could be enjoyed by the masses, not just the elite. This is something Doran and Browne have prioritised throughout their project.
“So much of Ulysses happens in public spaces – from a cemetery to a pub. All the European partners had total authority for their own individual projects, but all we insisted was they use public spaces.”
Joyce found his own writing funny; I think he would have enjoyed Derry Girls
— Seán Doran
Doran’s message to those who feel Joyce isn’t accessible or relevant to them is to “come along to YES and be surprised”.
“You will be getting the kind of flowers of his original creation, presented in a completely different contemporary experience. Oh and you don’t need to be female to enjoy the festival,” he adds.
