Joseph McGrath (Gabriel Conroy) and Amy Almquist (Gretta Conroy) in the Rogue Theatre's production of James Joyce's "The Dead."

Courtesy of the Rogue Theatre

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Tucson's new Rogue Theatre has promised to "challenge, stretch and invigorate" the Old Pueblo "by placing primary value on the evocative power of the imagination and the musicality of language."

Whoa.

To fulfill that promise, chances are the troupe must challenge and stretch themselves as well.

For the third production of its inaugural season, an adaptation of James Joyce's short story "The Dead," it looks like the group is daringly embracing that ambitious challenge. The production opens next Thursday at Zuzi Theatre in the historic YWCA.

Director Cynthia Meier has also adapted the piece, the final story in Joyce's "Dubliners" collection, for this theatrical event, which will use music as well as a rather unusual presentational style.

Meier has long admired the grace of Joyce's writing, and her goal with this production is to retain that grace by preserving Joyce's language even as it is translated to a new medium.

Not an easy task.

The story takes place at the annual Twelfth Night, or Epiphany, party hosted by the elderly sisters Julia and Kate Morkan, who, along with their niece, Mary Jane, are music teachers in the Irish capital in the early 20th century. They and their guests, in festive holiday style, entertain themselves with music, song and dance.

While there is no overt dramatic conflict, the evening develops into a moment of quiet but profoundly felt epiphany — a critical component for all the stories in the "Dubliners" collection — for the sisters' nephew, writer and teacher Gabriel Conroy, who many feel represents Joyce.

"The Dead" inspired film director John Huston's haunting final movie in 1987, and a musical adaptation by Richard Nelson, starring Christopher Walken and Blair Brown, enjoyed modest success in New York in 1999.

The difference in this Rogue production is that it is Joyce's narrative itself that will be heard.

"I would estimate that between 80 and 85 percent of what the audience will hear are Joyce's actual words," says Meier, who has worked on the adaptation for about six months.

"We haven't turned the narrative into dialogue. You actually hear the narrative recited by the actors. It is a play, but the characters often speak to the audience in the third person."

Music will also be starring in this production, both as part of the story and as an adjunct to it. Musical director Harlan Hokin, who also plays the role of tenor Bartell D'Arcy, holds a doctorate in historical performance practice from Stanford University, and his arrangements with piano, violin and harp will be complemented by traditional Irish tunes from local band Round the House.

Many of the 17 cast members will sing, and vocal ensembles are integrated into the story's unfolding.

Joyce. Language. Music. Epiphany.

This Rogue is reaching high. A stretch and a challenge indeed.