Bri, a schoolteacher and his wife Sheila have a 10-year old child named Josephine, who has cerebral palsy and is completely helpless and utterly dependent on them.

Bri hides behind irony and sarcasm. Sheila believes the child is her penance for a promiscuous past and soldiers on devotedly with their little "Joe Egg". Well-meaning family and friends offer sundry solutions, everything from adoption to euthanasia but ultimately Bri finds he cannot continue and leaves Sheila and Joe behind.

NB - the setting of this play reflects attitudes and language of the time (1960s), which some may now find offensive

'An immensely moving, even profound play about love and marriage...Very worthwhile.'

The New York Times

★★★★

"...a blazingly original cocktail of styles"

The Guardian