Joyce’s only play was semi-autobiographical and was written when he was in Trieste with Nora Barnacle during 1914 and 1915. However, the author suffered a long and frustrating wait before it was performed. W. B. Yeats refused to stage it at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre and Joyce was forced to publish it (Grant Richards, 1918) before performance, making it a ‘dead shoot’ in his opinion. It was also offered to, but rejected by, London’s Incorporated Stage Society, a members’ only society created solely to stage works deemed too difficult, explicit or obscure for mainstream audiences. Exiles finally achieved a premier of sorts on 7th August 1919, in Germany. Joyce had to translate it into German (the title was Verbannte) and the lead actor was violently ill; Joyce remarked that it may have been due to his dialogue: “Complete fiasco. Row in theatre. Play withdrawn. Author invited but not present... Thank God.” There was no second night. The first performance in English was at the Neighbourhood Playhouse in New York in February 1925 where it ran for 41 nights, to mixed reviews. Then in July or early August 1925 Joyce received news that the Incorporated Stage Society had reconsidered and accepted the play for their 1926 season. There were two performances, directed by W.G. Fay. George Bernard Shaw was in the audience and led the Informal Debate mentioned here.