Epiphany

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 J ames 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+