Sunday, September 29, 2019

A DAY IN THE DEATH OF JOE EGG – REVIEW OF NICHOLS’ PLAY AT TRAFALGAR STUDIOS

James Karas

On October 24, 1993, Robert Latimer, a Saskatchewan farmer, connected the exhaust pipe of his truck by a hose to the cab of his truck and turned on the engine. His 12-year old daughter Laura was in the truck and consequently died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Laura was severely disabled and in constant and apparently excruciating pain. Her quality of life was negligible, if any. Latimer’s action in wanting to put an end to her life was an act of love and mercy. The Canadian legal system did not see it that way and he was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with no parole for 10 years. His conviction that he took his daughter’s life to end her pain did not get him sympathy with some quarters of Canada especially the parole board and he served his entire sentence.
 
Claire Skinner, Toby Stephens and Storme Toolis. Photo:Marc Brenner
The horrifying fate of Laura and Robert Latimer came to mind while watching A Day in the Death of Joe Egg by Peter Nichols. The play premiered in 1967 and was partly autobiographical because Nichols had a severely disable daughter who had died at age 11.

Brian and Sheila have a severely disabled daughter. Josephine or Joe Egg as they call her cannot speak or walk and recognizes almost nothing of her surroundings. She is incontinent, requires almost constant care and has convulsions. Looking after Joe is excruciatingly difficult. Sheila sees or imagines she is seeing signs of reaction or recognition from Joe. Brian sees no hope and while hiding his emotions behind bad jokes about Joe’s condition contemplates bringing her life to an end.

The play is billed as a comedy and there are some funny lines but the humour is black and the situation utterly depressing.

Nichols has his characters address the audience directly beginning with Brian who teaches high school in Bristol and has a class of nightmarish students. The first scene is a perfect example of bad class control where he yells at his students for misbehaving, tells all of them to put their hands on their heads and leaves them there while he goes home.

Brian and Sheila step off the stage to re-enact visits to a family physician and a pediatrician who are hilariously and frightfully inept, unsympathetic and pathetic. 
Toby Stephens, Lucy Eaton, Clarence Smith and Claire Skinner. 
Photo: Marc Brenner 
The rest of the plot is taken by the visit of a friendly couple, Freddie (Clarence Smith) and Pam (Lucy Eaton) who want to be helpful but are not. The other visitor is Brian’s mother Grace (Patricia Hodge) who is obtuse and funny.

Toby Stephens as Brian (he is usually Bri) and Claire Skinner as Sheila play the wretched and unfortunate parents who try to deal with a hopeless and horrid situation and try to find ways of dealing with it. Excellent work by both of them.

The production is done on a single set by Peter McIntosh representing the living room of Joe’s parents. We see Joe (Storme Toolis) in her wheelchair sitting there quietly or convulsing. The actors step down from the stage when addressing the audience or taking the role of the doctors.

Director Simon Evans does fine work dealing with a horrible situation and bringing out the humour of the play. It is a horrifying situation and a dreadful fate for the people involved. And this is just on stage. Can you imagine it in real life?

I wonder if Latimer is aware of the play.
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A Day in the Death of Joe Egg  by Peter Nichols  continues until November 30, 2019 at Trafalgar Studios, 14 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2DY. www.trafalgarentertainment.com/

James Karas is the Senior Editor - Culture of The Greek Press. www.greekpress.ca

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