"A Day in the Death of Joe Egg" - Joe Penhall 'As a director, explain how you would create comedy for your audience from the serious subject matter presented in this extract.'

As a director, I would try to bring out the comedy in this extract by, firstly, casting two people who have an ability to make people laugh by doing hardly anything. There are people who can send an audience into fits of laughter by simply pulling a face or walking. A naturally funny person would make the comic extracts of this play easier for the audience to accept. As for the direction of these actors, …showed first 75 words of 619 total…

…showed last 75 words of 619 total…Sheila say "Ah!", I would ask the actors to say it in unison as if it had been rehearsed for this particular occasion. It is funny because they are mocking the co-workers at the nursery for not having to live with the children, only work with them. Overall, the important point I would ask my performers to remember is that, although the subject matter may be depressing, one can still laugh when one is sad.