Katherine MacAlister sees Clive Owen et al at the Playhouse - showing until September 8

Black comedy is always a confusing genre because audiences are often attracted by the promise of humour rather than tragedy.

Victoria Hamilton and Clive OwenThis is certainly true of A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg, currently being shown at the Oxford Playhouse and starring Hollywood's 'next big thing' Clive Owen.

While it depicts a couple's struggle to bring up their severely disabled daughter, it does so using a vehicle of bleak jokes and shocking tactics, forcing the audience to laugh in the face of disaster, ripping down the politically correct curtain to reveal the reality.

The reality for Clive Owen, playing Bri, an embittered teacher and failed painter, is that he is trapped. Since doctors botched up the birth of his daughter she has had no quality of life and cannot move, talk or express herself in any way, 'a vegetable' as the doctors describe her.

Bri survives by relying on a mixture of sarcasm and make-believe, until he reaches a point of no return and starts dabbling in playing God.

His wife Sheila, played by Victoria Hamilton, is desperate to keep her daughter at home rather than relying on residential care. This puts the marriage under considerable strain, and although it's based on evident love and true compatibility, the couple seem fated to break under the strain.

The playwright Peter Nichols wrote the play in 1967 and this is its first major revival, but while the scenery is dated, its issues are still relevant today.

Nichols' greatest gift is his ability to grab the audience by the collar and drag it kicking and screaming into the debating forum, forcing it to weigh up the value of life, the pressure of society to conform to normality, the prejudices people have against the disabled and the obligations of parents to children and husbands to wives.

Not for the faint-hearted, A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg runs until Saturday.

Evening performances are at 7.30 (Fri 8) with matinees on Thursday and Saturday at 2.30pm.

For further details contact the box office on 01865 798600.