Rave reviews for acting debut

Eddie Izzard has attracted rave reviews for his Broadway debut.

Critics were united in their praise for his starring role in Peter Nichols' A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg, which opened on Thursday night.

The revival, which transferred from London, marks Izzard's first serious role on the New York stage, playing the father of a physically and mentally disabled girl.

The influential New York Times said Izzard and co-star Victoria Hamilton were "a spontaneously funny couple - so funny that they break your heart" and that they " hijacked your attention, dragging you by charm and coercion into the alarmingly intimate interior of one couple's relationship".

Reviewer Ben Brantley added: "Mr Izzard is slyly persuasive in his portrayal of an emotional cripple. He uses the subliminal, masochistic anger common among stand-up comics to illuminate the essential self-disgust in Bri.

"It seems unlikely that anyone this season is going to top Mr. Izzard, previously best known as a standup artist in women's clothing, and Ms. Hamilton."

The New York Post was equally enthralled by the play it called "corrosively hilarious and bitterly sad".

Its review said: "Izzard is extraordinary. He pulls compulsive laughter out of pain like a funny hat from one of those English Christmas crackers.:

And USA Today said the piece provided "a vehicle for Izzard's droll sensibility" with "Bri using wisecracks to mask the grief and jealousy he feels toward his daughter."

A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg marks Izzard's dramatic debut on the New York stage, although he has performed stand-up there before. It runs at the American Airlines Theater until May 25.

Chortle's review of the West End production

Published: 4 Apr 2003