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A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
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Biz Staff Pick!
Author: Peter Nichols Publisher: Samuel French (cover may change) Format: Softcover # of Pages: 68 Pub. Date: 1967 Edition: Acting ISBN-10: 0573619263 ISBN-13: 9780573619267 Cast Size: 3 female, 2 male, and 1 girl
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About
the Play:
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg was one of Royal National
Theatre of Britain's top 100 plays of the 20th century.
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg has long been a favourite of
acting teachers for Female Monologues, Male Monologues, and
Female/Male Scenes.
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg is a full-length black drama
by Peter Nichols. An anxious married couple struggle to deal
with their severely brain damaged young daughter (nicknamed Joe Egg),
inventing conversations, characteristics and a full imaginary life
for her as their own marriage falls apart. A Day In The Death Of
Joe Egg is a funny and thought-provoking modern classic.
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg depicts the brittle but
deeply loving relationship between a young couple whose marriage has
been tested in the most traumatic way. Bri, a school teacher, and his
wife Sheila have a 10-year old disabled child named Josephine,
nicknamed Joe Egg, who is completely helpless and dependent on them
for everything. She is the cipher of the title. The wife believes
that because of certain pre-marital indiscretions the child is
punishment to them; but the husband looks on the matter drolly, as a
black comedy joke. They are visited one night by another couple who
have their patented solutions. The woman cannot stand lameness in
people, and while she knows gas chambers are all wrong, still the
state should do something in these cases. The man on the other hand
is determined to give them advice, even against their will. The
husband gets back at the fates with a little black comedy of his own,
pretending with games of murder. But his sense of humor wasn't built
to withstand this, and in the end he finds he can neither laugh off
the affliction nor live with it, and runs away. Inspired by Peter
Nichols' own experience of bringing up his disabled daughter in
the 1960s, A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg was one of the
ground-breaking plays of its generation and the issues faced by two
parents in this bittersweet comedy still resonate with audiences
today, breaking your heart one minute and filling it with warmth the
next.
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg premiered in 1967 at Citizens
Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland, before transferring to the Comedy
Theatre in London's West End, and then to Broadway at Brooks Atkinson
Theatre the next year, where it was nominated for four Tony awards,
including Best Play. The play has become a favourite scene study
vehicle in acting classes and workshops and been revived twice on
Broadway and is regularly
performed in regional and community theatre productions.
Cast: 3 female, 2 male, and 1 girl
What people say:
"An immensely moving, even
profound play about love and marriage…. Very worthwhile."
— New York Times
"Both moving and funny."
— New York Post
"Comedies don’t get more
heart-rending than A Day in the Death of Joe Egg,
a 1967 play by Peter Nichols that feels new-born
in this Broadway revival ... Joe Egg outstrips anything on a New York
stage in its searing humor and wrenching emotional force. It manages
to break your heart one minute and suffuse it with warmth the next,
all while eliciting a stream of cathartic laughter." —
Variety
About the Playwright:
Peter Nichols (1927-2019) was an English playwright,
screenwriter, director and journalist. He wrote 17 stage plays,
nearly two dozen television plays, and one episode of the
long-running "Inspector Morse" detective series. He was
awarded a CBE for services to drama in 2018.
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