Toby Stephens & Claire Skinner to Star in West End Revival of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg

Toby Stephens (Oslo, Lost in Space) and Claire Skinner (Outnumbered, The Father) will return to the West End stage this fall in a new staging of Peter Nichols' 1967 play A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. Directed by Simon Evans (Killer Joe, Arturo Ui), the revival will reunite the acclaimed actors, who last worked together 18 years ago on the award-winning BBC TV drama Perfect Strangers. The production will open at London's Trafalgar Studios on September 21.

"I'm thrilled to be part of a revival of this fantastic play," said Stephens. "Reading it for the first time, I couldn't believe that it had been written in the late sixties; it felt so vivid, dark and anarchically funny. The play still feels very raw and relevant today. I'm very glad to be working with Claire Skinner again after quite a long interval—some eighteen years! I think she is a very fine actor and I was really excited to hear that she wanted to do the play as well."

Skinner added, "I'm really looking forward to coming back to the West End with this complex, thought-provoking and funny play and I'm also looking forward to working with Toby again after eighteen years!"

A Day in the Death of Joe Egg centers on Bri (Stephens) and Sheila (Skinner), who have been struggling to care for their disabled 10-year-old daughter Josephine ever since she was born. Nicknaming her Joe Egg, they lose themselves in fantasy games and dark humor to help cope with the struggle of their daily reality.

Inspired by Nichols' own experience of bringing up his disabled daughter in the 1960s, Joe Egg was one of the groundbreaking plays of its generation.

Further casting will be announced soon.