Olivier Award winner Patricia Hodge will join the cast of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg which opens at the Trafalgar Studios next month.
Simon Evans revival of Peter Nichols’ groundbreaking 1960s play will star Toby Stephens (Oslo, Lost in Space) and Claire Skinner (Outnumbered) as two parents struggling trying to cope with the demands of caring for their daughter who has cerebral palsy.
Inspired by Nichols’ own experience of bringing up his disabled daughter in the 1960s the bittersweet comedy looks at issues still relevant today.
Patricia Hodge will play the role of Grace. As one of the UK’s premier actresses, Hodge’s extensive stage and screen roles include A Little Night Music, Look Back in Anger, Pippin, Travels With My Aunt and her Olivier award winning performance in Money at the National Theatre in 2000; screen roles include Hotel du Lac, The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, Miranda, Downton Abbey and A Very English Scandal.
On joining the cast, Hodge said: “This play was groundbreaking in the 1960s. We live in different times but its relevance and impact is ever more powerful. I am delighted to be joining Toby and Claire to tell the story on the West End stage, in this new production of Peter Nichols’ profound and moving play.”
Peter Nichols’ Tony Award winning play premiered in Glasgow in 1967 and went on to enjoy runs in the West End, several revivals on Broadway, and film adaptations in 1972 and 2002.
It was most recently revived in London at the New Ambassadors Theatre in 2001, where it starred Clive Owen (later replaced by Eddie Izzard) and Victoria Hamilton. Izzard and Hamilton reprised their roles in the play on Broadway, as well as the 2002 film adaptation.
A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg is booking from 21 September 2019 until 31 November 2019 at Trafalgar Studio 1, London.
