THEATRE: A DAY IN THE DEATH OF JOE EGG
“It’s so vibrant, so alive, so funny – and so dangerous! [It’s a] volatile subject matter and volatile writing.” Actor Jonathan Gavin is smitten with A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. First performed and published in the 1960s by English playwright, Peter Nichols, the story unfolds of a couple, Bri and Grace (whose marriage is in strife) and their severely disabled daughter, Joe. While the topic may not seem kosher, Nichols had a daughter with severe disabilities and Gavin (who plays Bri) assures us, “The comedy, while it is at times very, very dark and incredibly boisterous and raucous – it is never unkind.”
Produced by White Box Theatre, the production was so successful in its first run, three years ago, that it is now touring the East coast. Call it serendipity, but it’s not every play that you come across a cast so psychically prepared and aligned for a show like this. That’s what Gavin will tell you, “The play has a very specific set of demands as a theatrical beast. It’s part stand up comedy, [part] farce, part drawing-room comedy.” It would be a tragedy to miss it.
Oct 21-30, The Seymour Centre, cnr City Rd & Cleveland St, Chippendale, $34-40, 9351 7940, sydney.edu.au/seymour
