A Day in the Death of Joe Egg

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A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
2001 West End revival theatrical poster
Written by	Peter Nichols
Date premiered	1967
Place premiered	Citizens Theatre Glasgow, Scotland
Original language	English
Subject	Parents with a child with cerebral palsy use humour to cope
Genre	Comedy
Setting	present day, Bristol, England
IBDB profile
IOBDB profile

A Day in the Death of Joe Egg is a 1967 play by English playwright Peter Nichols, first staged at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland before transferring to London's West End theatres in 1968.

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Productions 3 Film adaptations 4 Awards and nominations 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External links

[edit] Plot summary

Characters

• Bri
• Grace
• Joe
• Freddie
• Pam
• Sheila

The play centers on a British couple who are struggling to save their marriage whilst trying to raise their only child, a small girl with cerebral palsy. She is wheelchair bound and unable to communicate. Caring for her has occupied nearly every moment of her parent's lives since her birth, and this has taken a heavy toll on their marriage.

Sheila, her mother, gives Josephine as much of a life as she can while Bri wants the child institutionalised and has begun to entertain chilling fantasies of killing himself and Josephine.

[edit] Productions

After its premiere in Glasgow in 1967, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg opened in London's West End in 1967 then transferred to Broadway the next year. On Broadway, the play was nominated for 4 Tony Awards including Best Play, Best Actor (Albert Finney), Best Actress (Zena Walker) and Best Director (Michael Blakemore). Walker won the Tony for Best Actress.

The play has been revived twice on Broadway. A 1985 revival staged at the Longacre Theatre ran for 93 performances. It was directed by Arvin Brown and the cast included Jim Dale, Stockard Channing, Joanna Gleason, Christina Pickles, and Kate Wilkinson. The production won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival.

A 2003 revival on Broadway at the American Airlines Theatre was directed by Laurence Boswell and played for 69 performances. It starred Eddie Izzard and Victoria Hamilton.

[edit] Film adaptations

Nichols adapted A Day in the Death of Joe Egg for two films, first in 1971, and again in 2002. The 1971 feature film was directed by Peter Medak, starring Alan Bates, Janet Suzman, Peter Bowles and Elizabeth Robillard. The 2002 television film was directed by Robin Lough, with stars, Eddie Izzard, Prunella Scales, and Robin Weaver.

[edit] Awards and nominations

Awards

• 1985 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Revival
• 1985 Outer Critics Circle Awards Best Revival
• 1985 Tony Award for Best Reproduction of a Play

Nominations

• 1968 Tony Award for Best Play
• 2003 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play
• 2003 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Revival of a Play

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Nichols, Peter (1967). A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (First edition ed.). London: Faber & Faber. OCLC 254709626. 

[edit] External links

• A Day in the Death of Joe Egg at the Internet Broadway Database
• A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1985 revival) at the Internet Broadway Database
• A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (2003 revival) at the Internet Broadway Database

v • d • e Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play The Royal Family (1976) · Entertaining Mr Sloane (3082) · Death of a Salesman (1984) · Joe Egg (1985) · The House of Blue Leaves (1986) · Our Town (1989) · Anna Christie (1993) · An Inspector Calls (1994) · The Heiress (1995) · A Delicate Balance (1996) · A Doll's House (1997) · A View from the Bridge (1998) · Death of a Salesman / The Iceman Cometh (1999) · The Real Thing (2000) · The Best Man (2001) · Private Lives (2002) · Long Day's Journey into Night (2003) · Henry IV (2004) · Twelve Angry Men (2005) · Awake and Sing! (2006) · Journey's End (2007) · Boeing-Boeing (2008) · The Norman Conquests (2009)