JoyceDada: An Echo Chamber

Ulysses has long been considered notor-iously obscene and likewise notoriously difficult. The latter partly to this day. It is not entirely untrue, but far from the whole truth. What about its reputation as the funniest, most humorous novel of the modern era? This event will give you an opportunity to laugh heartily with Joyce and Ulysses.

When Joyce was writing Ulysses in Zurich during World War I, the Dadaists were making a great stir here at the Cabaret Voltaire. Of course they knew about each other. Joyce was not a Dadaist, was never a follower of -isms. But he kept aloof from them by embracing them all – and thus the literary revolutionaries from Spiegelgasse were not without effect on Ulysses: in Joyce's stylistic diversity, Dada has a clear echo. His great sense of humour also has a certain “Zurich flavour”. On occasion of the 100th anniversary of the publication of Ulysses, this “literary encounter”, which never took place in this form, will be celebrated on stage in a multi-vocal performance. Joyce’ meeting with the Dadas reveals surprising and amusing affinities, as well as some “false friends”. The reading is surrounded by sounds from objets trouvés by the fabulous Balts Nill.

Hanspeter Müller Drossaart, reading performance Isabelle Menke, reading performance Balts Nill, percussion Ursula Zeller, text collage