A Day in the Death of Joe Egg

Synopsis

Joe Egg is the name given by Bri and Sheila to their spastic child. To make their lives bearable they have evolved an elaborate series of fantasy games about Joe. Yet ten years of devotion to a human vegetable have created terrible strains on their marriage and when Bri sees an opportunity of allowing Joe to die, he takes it. The attempt fails; Joe's living death will continue.

Our Review:

11 April 2013

You can guess we’re back in 1967 from the cluttered, psychedelically garish living room. There are also a couple of startling additions which seem to serve only a single purpose, whereas skewiff doors and window suggest distorted reality, an unsettling surrealism. You have to see it for yourself as they say; after all, for most of us, it would be impossible to imagine life with a disabled child.

Jessica Bastick-Vines is astounding as Joe – and how on earth do her parents cope? Ralf Little (Bri) and Rebecca Johnson (Sheila) also give stunning performances, literally magnetic as they attract and repulse each other in equal measure. She is splendidly robust, obsessive in her devotion and need for answers but although he gives an outstanding performance, while spoilt brat comes over clearly and we get the manic via constant gags, the quiet desperation is not overt enough to indicate depression.

The second half zips along, with the introduction of Marjori...

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