It's hard to believe a play about a husband and wife struggling to care for their brain-damaged, vegetative daughter is considered a comedy, but Peter Nichols' play "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg" is just that Ð although, certainly, a black comedy.

The play is being produced by Mad Horse Theatre Company today through Feb. 25 in Portland. "(Peter Nichols) was described by his contemporaries as being fearless because he expressed those thoughts we are sometimes uncomfortable expressing. Sometimes humor helps us deal with extraordinary pain, and that is what he's doing (in the play)," explains Christine Louise Marshall, the director of Mad Horse's production.

"We always assume people who laugh a lot aren't feeling those deep feelings," such as pain or sorrow, reflects Marshall. "If someone's laughing, one might think they're incapable of a great depth of emotion, but that laughter might be a tightly secured lid on pain."

With a history of selecting plays that make audiences think (for example, "Drunks," directed by Marshall in 2005, was a play set at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting), Mad Horse Theatre Company doesn't shy away from this complicated and emotional play.

"When we choose our plays," says Marshall, "we'd rather you get into a heated debate rather than saying 'Well, the costumes were nice.'"

Marshall suggested the two-hour play for Mad Horse's season this year. She had performed in a production of it about 20 years ago and thought that someday she'd like to revisit it. When the theater company's reading committee agreed to add "Joe Egg" to this season's lineup, Marshall had second thoughts.

"It's a little daunting emotionally," she says. "Now we're in the midst of it, I'm so glad we're doing it."

First produced in Britain in 1967, "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg," more commonly called "Joe Egg," is a semi-autobiographical play. Nichols had a daughter whose condition was similar to that of the girl in his play. His daughter died at the age of 10 in 1971.

"Joe Egg," ranked as one of the 100 most significant plays of the 20th century by Britain's National Theatre, is not a play just about the extremely sensitive issues surrounding caring for a person who is incapacitated. It also is a play about the couple's relationship.

"(Peter Nichols) doesn't waste a word," Marshall says. "He seems to find the nonverbal and visual shorthand that couples share."

From that shorthand, the audience learns more about this couples' pain, frustration, regret, sorrow Ð and small joys Ð than mere words could tell.

In today's casual society, so many people think it is acceptable to voice their opinions about situations they haven't personally experienced. Marshall hopes that Mad Horse Theatre Company's production of "Joe Egg" gives audiences a glimpse into the harsh and complicated world of people who face the unthinkable.

"I hope," she says, "audiences will take away a sense of hope and love and respect for the lives of others, and that it will foster a dialogue between people."

News assistant Stephanie Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6455 or at:

sbouchard@pressherald.com