Wednesday 23rd to Saturday 26th September @ 8.00pm
plus Matinee Saturday 26th @ 2.30pm
Presented by tenderfire
Epiphany
Written and performed by Lesley Conroy
Directed by Fiana Toibin
Following the sold-out World Premiere at the 2026 Bloomsday Festival, in this bold reimagining of James Joyce’s ‘The Dead’, Gretta Conroy takes centre stage at the Misses Morkan’s annual supper party. A night filled with music, dancing and genteel skirmishes.
Gretta has it all: a house by the sea, a gentleman’s family, and a romantic night in The Gresham planned with her dutiful husband Gabriel. But when a love song from her past unearths long-buried memories, Gretta is landed at a crossroads weighing up the choices that shaped her, and the path that lies ahead.
If you are a fan of Joyce and ‘The Dead ’, come and see the story as told from Gretta’s point of view. Gretta gives voice to the preoccupations of mid-life, motherhood and marriage – the secrets you share with your friends in the early hours of the morning.
This unique production expands the female voice in the Joyce canon beyond Molly Bloom, and Nora & Lucia Joyce.
Themes of love, loss and longing are excavated under the ghost weight of the past.
Mail on Sunday ****
‘Thrilling Interpretation of Joyce’s Story’.
‘Evocative classic The Dead gets a retelling from a female perspective – and it’s brilliant. Lesley Conroy owns the stage.’
The Reviews Hub ****
Epiphany written and performed by Lesley Conroy and directed by Fiana Toibin encapsulates the perfect character study of Gretta Conroy in James Joyce’s short story “The Dead”.
THE ARTS REVIEW ****
‘Conroy conjures an entire world from thin air, seamlessly folding past and present into one another. Delivering with ease the theatrical somersault of a one-woman, multi-character show.’
Director: Fiana Toibin
Written and Performed by: Lesley Conroy
Assistant Director: Sinead O’Connor Ringwood
Lighting design: Cathy O’Carroll
Set & Costume: Dara Gill
Sound: Brian Dillon
Music: Anne-Marie Papin Labazordière
Choreography: Muirne Bloomer
Production images: Al Craig
tenderfire is a new initiative founded by Lesley Conroy that amplifies the female voice in emotionally charged narratives for stage & screen.
Epiphany was funded by The Arts Council, dlr Arts Grant, dlr Mountain to Sea Bursary, Cork Theatre Collective Space to Play award & Laois Arts Office Tyrone Guthrie Centre Bursary.
Running time: 60 minutes
Age recommendation: 14+
Ticket Prices: €18
*Booking fees apply
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VENUE DETAILS:
Cork Arts Theatre
Carroll's Quay
Cork
T23 X72D
☎ 021 4505624
✉ info@corkartstheatre.com
PARKING:
Parking is available at Q-Park Carroll's Quay
(directly across from the theatre)
or at Paul Street Car Park.
LOCATION MAP:

