Review: BLOOMSDAY at CATTheatre Enchants with Sweet, Wistful Tale

Steven Dietz's "Bloomsday" is CATTheatre's entry in the Acts of Faith Festival, a lovely play combining memory, romance and James Joyce.

Caithleen was a 20-year-old Dublin tour guide when she met Robbie, also 20. Her specialty: the James Joyce novel "Ulysses." She takes visitors on a walking tour that recreates the wanderings of Leopold Bloom, the novel's hero.

A romance sparked when Robbie took the tour. But he and Caithleen parted, and life went on. Now it's 35 years later, and their older counterparts, Cait and Robert, revisit their memories.

Besides being charming, Caithleen has a special power: She sees time as fluid, with events unfolding in different time periods all at once. This enables the younger characters to interact with their older counterparts.

This is a brief, gently paced, beguiling work, mostly well realized in this production. Director Jimmy Mello strikes the right tone and moves his actors well on the lovely, simple set designed by Mike Fletcher and Joe Bly. Jason Lucas's lighting is sometimes intrusive, but Alison Eichler's costumes are well chosen. Richmond newcomer Jordan Stroud makes Robbie just the right kind of callow fellow; Mike Fletcher is wry and wise as his older self. Martha Kelly is a lovely Cait, though she might have brought a touch more vividness to her character.

As Caithleen, Lydia MacFarlane Watt is enchanting. When she dreams of driving across America, we can see her vision. "Look at her," Robert commands, bidding both Robbie and the audience to take in the loved and lost memory from his youth. We look, we see, we feel our own missed opportunities. "Bloomsday" shines a light on time and life and the choices we didn't make.

"Bloomsday" at CATTheatre, 319 N. Wilkinson Rd., through February 22

Tickets $25 (students $15, RVAOS members $20)

Info: cattheatre.com or (804) 262-9760

Photo Credit: Daryll Morgan Studios