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[ Aetat. 27 ] J O Y C E 285Still with John Joyce were the fivesisters May, Eileen, Eva, Florence,and Mabel. Joyce felt a burst of pity for them and resolved to do something.It was clear he could not do much, but he arranged to have Eileen,whose voice was finebut undeveloped, take singing lessons 31 —tobe paid for jointly by him and Stanislaus; and he decided to bring onesister back to Trieste with him. At firstit was to be Mabel, but Margaretquietly decided it should be Eva, who was more religious and might havea beneficial influence on her brother's impiety. 32Stanislaus, informed ofthe new plan, made his usual reasonable objections, but James pushedthem aside. They would need help in the house, and Eva would savethem that expense. Before they left he would have her tonsils removed,because they had affected her speech. 33Stanislaus reluctantly submittedto his brother's generous impulse, and made further efforts to raise theconsiderable sum needed to bring the lot of them home. To do so hehad to be paid off by Artifoni, but Artifoni, once more in charge of theschool, was in no hurry to oblige him because Stanislaus had given noticethat he, too, was leaving to teach privately.Delayed by Artifoni's pretexts, Joyce busied himself in Dublin with hisusual energy. Caruso was in town for a concert, and Joyce offered tointerview the singer in Italian; but all three Dublin newspapers were disinclined.A better idea was to write an article for the Piccolo della Seraon the premiere of Shaw's The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet at the AbbeyTheatre. The play had been banned in England, but Yeats and LadyGregory had taken advantage of the technicality that the Lord Chamberlain'sauthority over theaters did not extend to Ireland. They successfullychallenged the viceroy's attempt to prevent the performance. Joyce gotStanislaus to arrange with Prezioso for an article in the Piccolo, and armedwith Prezioso's consent he tackled the Abbey manager for a press passand got it. Pleased with his success, he next had visiting cards printedwith his name and 'Piccolo della Sera, Trieste,' and with them prevailedupon the manager of the Midland Railway to give him a press pass toGalway on the understanding that he would write about Galway in aprojected series of articles on Ireland for the Italian press.* 34The premiere of Blanco Posnet took place on August 25, the last nightof Horse Show week. Joyce approved of defying British censorship, butdid not care for the play. In his article for the Piccolo he branded Shaw'a born preacher' who was incapable of 'the noble and bare style appropriateto modern playwriting.' The play 'shewed up' Shaw himself as arefugee from atheism, he suggested. 35But he liked the acting and enjoyedthe experience of being a reporter. During the interval he saw EugeneSheehy, tapped him on the shoulder with his walking stick, andgreeted him casually.! He soon told Sheehy mysteriously, 'There willbe interesting news about me in a few weeks.' 37After the play he met a* In Ulysses (80 [98]), Bloom plans with similar ingenuity to 'work a pass' to Mullingar.t He remarked to Sheehy on this occasion that he greatly admired The Tragic Comediansof George Meredith. 36