A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
Peter Nichols’s concern – the strategies and effects of coping with such a harrowing, demanding, living tragedy – is timeless. One of the play’s most striking stylistic elements is the way in which the various characters speak directly to the audience… For Josephine’s mother, Sheila, it’s an overwhelming need to confide in somebody, anybody, because she is so desperately lonely, inhabiting a different emotional planet from her husband. Her husband, Brian, copes (or doesn’t cope) by retreating within a carapace of cynicism, treating the whole thing as a sick joke in an attempt to laugh away the pain.
Cast & Crew
Cast
| Unknown | Catalina Blackman |
|---|---|
| Unknown | Victoria Hamilton |
| Unknown | Elizabeth Holmes Gwillim |
| Unknown | Clive Owen |
| Unknown | Prunella Scales |
| Unknown | John Warnaby |
| Unknown | Robin Weaver |
Crew | |
| Composer | Unknown |
| Designer | Es Devlin |
| Director | Laurence Boswell |
- Source: University of Bristol Theatre Collection
- Last modified by Roger.
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Play description
Bri and Sheila are the young parents of a disabled ten-year-old child (nicknamed Joe Egg), who is incapable of sound or movement. They try to cope by inventing conversations and personality traits for the child, even though she seems unable to communicate in any way. As Bri and Sheila begin to fabricate scenarios, their marriage comes under increasing strain. A DAY IN THE DEATH OF JOE EGG was a West End success, receiving extraordinary critical acclaim, and was made into two films, released in 1971 and 2002.
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