A Rare Journey: Play celebrates the life of a remarkable Woman

‘A Rare Journey’ celebrates the life of a truly remarkable Irish woman, Nora Joyce, in a highly entertaining roller-coaster 75-minute play, filled with the music and song the Joyces knew, and delights in Nora’s quick and often razor-sharp wit.

The play separates Nora from her famous literary alter ego, Molly Bloom, and dispels the lazy myths that have often cast Nora as an inconsequential appendage of her famous husband.

Written and performed by Paula Greevy-Lee, this one-woman show separates the funny, wise, sharp-witted, complex, and compassionate Nora from the half-truths that have dogged her since her death aged 67 in 1951.

What inspired you to research Brenda Maddox’s biography for the stage?

I should say at the outset that my play, ‘A Rare Journey—Nora Joyce’s Odyssey’, is not actually an adaptation of the Brenda Maddox biography of Nora!

While the Maddox book is certainly the primary source of my research, my play also draws on many other sources, recollections, and accounts of Nora and her life.

Brenda Maddox wrote the definitive biography on Nora Barnacle, and that was the obvious place to start my research.

Up until then Nora had usually been glossed over in books that saw James Joyce as the only important one of the couple.

When Nora was mentioned at all in the (mostly) male-dominated arena of Joyce studies, it was usually in a quite offhand and dismissive manner as if she didn’t merit serious consideration as a complex woman with her own extraordinary story to tell. How wrong they were!

How long has this show been in the works?

The show took me about two years to fully research and write and many drafts to get the script down to its current length of 75 minutes.

In the early stages it was easily double that and more!

It could probably have been a two-hour show, so deciding what to keep in and what to edit out was a process that took a lot of time and careful redrafting.

I first performed the play in Smock Alley Theatre in June 2022, and it was so well received that we were invited back to Smock in 2023.

Then last year we brought Nora to the legendary Cork Arts Theatre, which was really great.

Is there a preference between writing or performance for you, and if so, why?

The impulse to write started with wanting to create a piece of work for myself to perform.

I had written some plays before for my Theatre-in-Education programme, Sticks & Stones, which was an anti-bullying programme for schools.

But this idea was very different—to write a solo piece to perform myself, and when I started out, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to do it!

Then I found I was really enjoying the research into Nora’s life because she was such a truly remarkable woman.

I found myself really admiring her and what she achieved.

Shaping that into a play was another phase of the work towards performance, and I would have to say that while I fully enjoyed writing it, I really love performing ‘A Rare Journey—Nora Joyce’s Odyssey’ because I get to inhabit this amazing character and ‘introduce’ her to new audiences.

Have there been any highlights or challenges working on it so far?

I got no funding to make or tour this show, so that’s been a real challenge.

There have been many highlights, but I always enjoy our post-show chats with audience members when people have a chance to find out more about Nora, and I get to talk more about my affinity with her.

What would you say has been your favourite project you have ever worked on and why?

Because I created this play from scratch -researched it, wrote it, and performed it – I would have to say ‘A Rare Journey’ is my favourite project.

What is next for you after this?

I performed an excerpt from a new work-in-progress, The Debutante, at the Scene + Heard Festival in Smock Alley back in February, and I plan to get down to writing the rest of that play, which is another solo piece, as soon as Nora finishes her gallivanting!

That said, there are a couple of places interested in taking Nora abroad, so that would be exciting too.

And I’ve always had an ambition to bring her to the main cities where the Joyces lived—Trieste,

Paris and Zurich. So she might not be ready to retire just yet! And who knows what exciting new acting projects are waiting?!

Who would you like to thank?

Lucy Ryan, who was then running Smock Alley Theatre, gave me a platform to present Nora in 2022, after my Arts Council funding had been declined.

I would like to thank most sincerely Darina Gallagher in the James Joyce Centre for all her support.

Shauna Maher, who made Nora’s costume and did all my make-up and hair every night—Shauna is a hugely talented designer, and I was lucky to get her.

My husband, Gerard Lee, who directed the show, and I had endless hours of conversation about Nora.