ULYSSES' Leopold Bloom Escapes The Page For BLOOMINAUSCHWITZ At The Fringe
By: Julie Musbach Jul. 12, 2018
Leopold Bloom breaks free from Joyce's 'Ulysses' to travel through history and re-discover his Jewish roots in this new play by Richard Fredman that won the Best New Play Award at the Brighton Fringe
Something is going very wrong for Leopold Bloom, the hero of James Joyce's great novel 'Ulysses' and a worldwide phenomenon.
He is plagued by visitations from the future, ghosts from the past and the burning question 'Who am I and where do I belong?!' His only clues lie in the 24 hours of life he occupies on 16 June 1904, as written for him by Joyce.
So to discover the answers, his answers, Leopold escapes the pages and confines of his famous book, embarking on a rampage through the storm of 20th century European history. Bounding back and forth through time and crossing Europe he attempts to discover his true identity and his Jewish roots. In doing so he bumbles into the dark heart of the 20th century and the dangers that lurk within.
A celebration of defiant open-heartedness, bloominauschwitz is an explosive piece of theatre that confounds audience expectations mixing clownish antics with high drama, rich text and powerful imagery. As Bloom confronts his chief antagonist - his future self from 2018, it resonates powerfully with the current migrant era and the rise of xenophobic nationalism in parts of Europe.
New writing specialists Menagerie return to the Fringe for the first time since 2014. Their own Patrick Morris delivers a Herculean performance as Bloom in this brilliant new play written by Richard Fredman and directed by Rachel Aspinwall. bloominauschwitz won the Best New Play Award at the 2015 Brighton Fringe.
In addition to the Brighton Fringe and selected UK dates bloominauschwitz was invited to play the DSB International Festival in Czech Republic. It will perform more international and UK dates following in 2018 and into 2019.
Menagerie Theatre Company is the leading independent new writing theatre company in the East of England. Based at Cambridge Junction the company has been creating theatre for over eighteen years and enjoys a regional, national and international reputation for the development of first class new writing for the stage. They seek out and support talented writers in order to develop and produce innovative new theatre. As well as touring widely, they run workshops, writer development courses and produce the annual Hotbed Festival of new writing in Cambridge. bloominauschwitz was created and developed at the Hotbed Festival in association with Cambridge Junction.
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