December 10, 2019  

Review of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg

On Friday, 29/11/19, we went to see a revival of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. This iconic play of the 1970s was written by Peter Nichols, one of the lesser-known so-called “kitchen sink” dramatists. The synopsis, telling of a marriage under strain as husband and wife struggled to bring up a disabled adolescent daughter, was hardly encouraging – it didn’t look like the stuff of a great evening out. How wrong can you be?

Sensational acting from Toby Stephens and Claire Skinner lit up a hugely sympathetic, humane and understanding work. The dialogue was very funny despite, or was it because of, the totally unsentimental script. It was not surprising to discover that the content was partly autobiographical.

Bri, played by Stephens, was racked with frustration and guilt over his inadequacies as a father. Predictably the male lead was pre-occupied, though understandably, in essentially egotistical concerns; the female lead, as so often in life, was pre-occupied with keeping life tolerable and even livable, even whilst stoking her husband’s jealousy about the time and concern she lavished on Joe.

The two well-meaning friends were hopelessly adrift in a sea of emotions quite beyond their life experiences and, in truth, they were less well-written or liked by both the author and the audience.

The staging was simple and effective, the directing sharp and precise. It was, we agreed, the most moving and commanding performance we had seen since Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.

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About Tony Belton

Labour Councillor for Latchmere Ward 1972-2022, now Battersea Park Ward, London Borough of Wandsworth Ever hopeful Spurs supporter; Lane visit to the Lane, 1948 Olympics. Why don't they simply call the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, The Lane? Once understood IT but no longer

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