Fisher Center presents
SummerScape Commission/World Premiere
Created by Elevator Repair Service
Directed by John Collins
Co-Direction and Dramaturgy by Scott Shepherd
Text: Ulysses by James Joyce
Photo by Maria Baranova
June 20 – July 14
“The Elevator Repair Service production, playing at Bard through July 14, somehow manages to reduce the novel’s more than 260,000 words to 2 hours and 40 minutes with much of its humor, pathos, and bawdiness intact.”—New York Times
James Joyce’s Ulysses has fascinated, perplexed, scandalized, and/or defeated readers for over a century. Building on a rich history of staging modernist works—Gatz, The Sound and the Fury, The Select (The Sun Also Rises)—Elevator Repair Service (ERS) takes on this Mount Everest of twentieth-century literature in their Fisher Center debut.
Seven performers sit down for a sober reading but soon find themselves guzzling pints, getting in brawls, and committing debaucheries as they careen on a fast-forward tour through Joyce’s funhouse of styles. With madcap antics and a densely layered sound design, ERS presents an eclectic sampling from Joyce’s life-affirming masterpiece.
Performers
Dee Beasnael, Kate Benson*, Maggie Hoffman, Vin Knight*, Scott Shepherd, Christopher-Rashee Stevenson, Stephanie Weeks*
Scenic Design dots
Costume Design Enver Chakartash
Lighting Design Marika Kent
Sound Design Ben Williams
Projection Design Matthew Deinhart
Properties Design Patricia Marjorie
Assistant Costume Design Caleb Krieg
Assistant Lighting Design Matt Lazarus
Assistant Projection Design Alessandra Cronin
Assistant Properties Design Ned Cían Gaynor
Assistant Director and Stage Manager Maurina Lioce
Producer Hanna Novak
Production Manager Aaron Amodt
Show Operator Gavin Price
Sound System Engineer Jason Sebastian
Assistant Stage Manager Kelsey Vivian*
Company Manager Becky Hermenze
Teleprompter and Clock Software Scott Shepherd
Daphne Gaines, April Matthis, and Mark Barton contributed to the development of the work.
*The Actor appears through the courtesy of the Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
Armstrong, Milly Bloom, Martin Cunningham, Mrs Breen, Miss Kennedy, Alexander J. Dowie, Florry
Haines, Simon Dedalus, Myles Crawford, the citizen, Dr Madden, Zoe
Molly Bloom, Miss Douce, Ned, Alf, Lenehan, Gerty McDowell, Punch Costello, Dr Dixon, Rudy Bloom
Mr Deasy, Leopold Bloom
Buck Mulligan, Blazes Boylan, Mr Nannetti, redheaded sailor
Stephen Dedalus, the cat, Lenehan, Joe Hynes
Martha, Mr Power, Nosey Flynn, Russell, John Wyse Nolan, Dr Punch Costello, Mrs Thornton, Stephen’s mother
Photos by Owen Hope
Before or after joining us at Elevator Repair Service’s Ulysses, explore the Ulysses Guide—a resource for readers of James Joyce’s novel, including background info, individual episode guides, photographs, maps, and other helpful resources.
“A heroic company that dares to venture into literary realms.”—The New York Times
Elevator Repair Service (ERS) is a New York City-based company that creates original works for live theater with an ongoing ensemble. The company’s shows are created from a wide range of texts that include found transcripts of trials and debates, literature, classical dramas, and new plays.
Founded in 1991, ERS has created an extensive body of work that includes dozens of original pieces. These have earned the company a loyal following and made it one of New York’s most highly acclaimed experimental theater companies. The company is best known for Gatz, its award-winning verbatim staging of the entire text of The Great Gatsby.
ERS has received numerous awards and distinctions, including Lortel awards, a Bessie award, and an OBIE award for Sustained Excellence, as well as a Guggenheim Fellowship and Doris Duke Performing Artist Award for Artistic Director John Collins.
Lead funding for the Fisher Center at Bard’s production of Ulysses was provided by the T. S. Eliot Foundation. Major commissioning and development support was provided by Fisher Center LAB, which receives funding from members of the Live Arts Bard Creative Council, the Lucille Lortel Foundation, and the Fisher Center’s Artistic Innovation Fund, with lead support from Rebecca Gold and additional funding from The William and Lia G. Poorvu Family Foundation.
This performance by Elevator Repair Service is made possible, in part, with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Ulysses was commissioned by and developed at Symphony Space. On June 16, 2022, Symphony Space presented an early iteration of the piece for its annual one-night-only “Bloomsday on Broadway” event.
Elevator Repair Service is also supported with funds from The Dorothy Strelsin Foundation, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation for Contemporary Arts, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Howard Gilman Foundation, The J.M. Kaplan Fund, Jockey Hollow Foundation, Lucille Lortel Foundation, The O’Grady Foundation, Scherman Foundation, Select Equity Group Foundation, and The Shubert Foundation.
Elevator Repair Service is a member of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York.
Actors’ Equity Association (“Equity”), founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional Actors and Stage Managers. Equity fosters the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions, and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Actors’ Equity is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions.
Standing By: Gatz Backstage
Upstate Films Starr Cinema
Rhinebeck, NY
Sunday, July 7 at 7 pm
Learn more about the trailblazing theater troupe Elevator Repair Service at a special documentary film screening presented by Upstate Films. The company’s recent history includes its acclaimed work Gatz, during which every word of The Great Gatsby is voiced and enacted onstage. Director Shaun Irons was there to capture the company in this observational and poetic documentary, shot over five days in London, Standing By does not attempt to be a document of a performance of Gatz; it’s the flip side, a peek behind the play’s backdrop marking time as the story of The Great Gatsby unfolds. After the screening, Irons will join cast members Scott Shepherd and Vin Knight.
Ulysses Ticket Holder Discount
Ticket holders of Ulysses at Bard SummerScape can get discounted tickets to the screening of Standing By: Gatz Backstage at Upstate Films (select the member price at checkout).
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From the East
If you are traveling from east of the Hudson River in New York State, take the Taconic State Parkway to the Red Hook / Route 199 exit, drive west on Route 199 through the village of Red Hook to Route 9G, turn right onto Route 9G, drive north 1.9 miles, turn left onto Annandale Road, then turn right onto Manor Ave.
From the West
If you are traveling from west of the Hudson River, take the New York State Thruway (I-87) to exit 19 (Kingston), take Route 209 (changes to Route 199 at the Hudson River) over the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge to Route 9G, turn left onto Route 9G, drive north 3.5 miles, turn left onto Annandale Road, then turn right onto Manor Ave.
LUMA Theater
Accessible Seating
Wheelchair-accessible seating is available at all performances. Due to the flexible nature of this performance space, wheelchair seating varies for each production.
Wheelchair-Accessible Restrooms
Restrooms at all locations are wheelchair accessible. Single-use restrooms are available at most locations.
All-Gender Restrooms
Bard College and the Fisher Center support guests of any gender identity/expression in using the restroom of their choice. Additionally, all-gender restrooms are available at all venues.
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