A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, by Peter Nichols

Oxford Playhouse, 29th August - 8th September 2001

For a play to use humour to challenge an audience's views on a serious subject was not unusual in the sixties. Nor was it unusual for playwrights to overturn the concept of theatre, blurring the boundaries between audience and cast and questioning the idea of what constitutes a play. Biting social satire is also fairly common in stage writing from that decade. What sets A Day in the Death of Joe Egg apart, and has led to its being revived with a star-studded cast some 40 years on, is the skill with which these concepts are handled.

Peter Nichols' play manages to be both thought-provoking and funny, while nevertheless remaining totally natural throughout, never lapsing into uncomfortable cliché. The satire may perhaps seem rather tame to modern audiences, but it still rarely becomes cloyingly obvious or self-pityingly angry, a fault only too common in the work of other 60s satirists like Joe Orton. Also unlike Orton is the unpretentious way in which Nichols explores meta-theatrical ideas. Never seeming to try too hard to make his effect, his dialogue effortlessly bridges the gap between the present, the past and the imaginary, and makes the audience's transition from spectator to participant bewilderingly hard to follow.
True, with a production of as high a calibre as this (on its way to the West End as soon as it leaves Oxford) it is somewhat difficult to determine whether the play's effect is due to the skill of the playwright or the superlative quality of the cast. All five actors turn in rivetingly characterized performances, capitalising on the gentle humour of their roles without ever resorting to caricature or farce. The assurance with which they handle Nichols' clever Act II script, as he works to shift the audience's sympathies rapidly from one character to another, is a wonderful display of ensemble acting. Clive Owen is highly engaging as Bri, the disillusioned teacher and father, making the hilarious most of his many funny lines while evoking an almost painful sympathy. Victoria Hamilton, as his wife Sheila, is also a delight to watch, creating a character who is thoroughly approachable despite her emotional complexity.

Child handicap, and the effects which it can have on parents, family and friends, may not seem the most cheerful of subjects for a play. But the tragedy in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg is at once sharpened and counteracted by liberal doses of heart-warming comedy. This is theatre at its intelligent, witty best - a play which contrives to entertain and instruct in equal measure.

Matthew Rogers, 30 / 8 / 01