At the Rose Theatre, Stephen Unwin is directing Nichols’s A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1967), which was the playwright’s semi-autobiographical account of his experience of having a seriously handicapped daughter who died at the age of 11. Unwin adds further depth to this production because of his experience with his own son Joey, now 16, who has “profound, multiple learning difficulties” a subject that he writes movingly about in the program.
According to the Telegraph – this all “might make A Day in the Death of Joe Egg exactly the kind of play you wouldn’t wish to see – but the miracle of the piece, and that doesn’t seem too strong a description, is that it is often startlingly funny as well as deeply moving.”
From the Rose Theatre : “Bri is a school teacher. His wife, Sheila, loves amateur dramatics. But their daughter Josephine is more than they bargained for and life is getting difficult… This fast-paced black comedy blazes with the love and pain, the anger and strain of a young couple raising a disabled child. Highly theatrical, frequently heart wrenching and often very funny, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1967) is one of the great plays of the modern British theatre.
★★★★ The Guardian ‘a very good Egg!’
★★★★ The Independent ‘propelled by the brilliance of the writing and the cast’s extraordinary performance.’
★★★★ Whatsonstage.com ‘thanks to playwrights like Peter Nichols… for giving us memorable performances like this.’
★★★★ The Daily Telegraph ‘startlingly funny as well as deeply moving.’
★★★★ The Public Reviews ‘still packs a powerful punch over 40 years since it was originally written‘
★★★★ Evening Standard ‘still packs a punch.’
★★★★ Liverpool Post ‘excellent cast pulls off the changing moods with ease‘
★★★★ Click Liverpool ‘an emotional roller coaster, laughing one minute and crying the next.‘
★★★★ The Daily Express ‘the impact is extraordinary.‘
