Don't sit at home like Joe Egg

A Day in the Death of Joe Egg by Peter Nicholls directed by Stephen Lee On the London's National Theatre's list of the most significant plays of the twentieth century. Class Act Theatre (Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Lysistrata) presents Peter Nichol’s dynamic black comedy. The Native Americans left handicapped children out at night so that exposure would kill them. Even only a century ago merely to have epilepsy was sometimes enough to ensure a lifetime spent in the asylum. People with disabilities have suffered constantly from fear and prejudice. "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg" is set in 1967 England, where parents of a young girl with severe cerebral palsy struggle to cope with the difficulties of a lifetime of feeding, bathing and changing little more than a baby. The mother, blaming herself for a difficult birth, hangs on to fruitless hopes of her making progress. The father, a teacher at a run down city school, has retreated into a fantasy world where little Joe becomes the centre piece of a variety of skits and routines based around her. For both parents facing up to the aversion, or patronising help, of outsiders and the possibility of decades more years spent nursing Joe, life has become a daily struggle. This play deals with the problems faced by carers of severely disabled children. The issues are tellingly highlighted in this wonderfully fresh and confronting play. Often achingly funny, yet always with a bleak and bitter aftertaste, it is challenging and thought provoking. Would life for all of them be better by far if Joe were to die? Just what is gained by the daily struggle of her existence? Or can the bond between parent and child survive any adversity? Starring Peter Clark and Shirley Van Sanden. Supported by Claire Munday, Grant Watson and Angelique Malcolm and introducing Melissa Kiiveri as Joe. http://www.classact.com.au/joe_egg.html Performance Dates: June 5 to June 20 at 8pm (Tues-Sat - no Thurs performances) Matinee: Sat June 20 at 2pm Venue: Subiaco Arts Centre - Studio, 180 Hamersley Rd, Subiaco Tickets: $14.90 to $29.00 Bookings: BOCS: 9484 1133 WARNING: This play contains material some people may find offensive.