The After-Dinner Joke

The After-Dinner Joke
Written by	Caryl Churchill
Date premiered	14 February 1978 (1978-02-14)
Place premiered	BBC1
Original language	English
Subject	The politics of charity
Genre	Epic television drama

The After-Dinner Joke is a television play in the epic form written by the English playwright Caryl Churchill for the BBC1 Play for Today series which was broadcast on 14 February 1978.

Unfolding through a sequence of 66 short, episodic scenes and utilising a large number of characters, the drama explores the politics of charity through the story of a young woman called Selby who wants "to do good." As a charity worker, she studiously avoids becoming embroiled in political issues, only to discover during the course of the action that this is impossible. "There's something political about everything," a local Mayor assures her.

Colin Bucksey directed the television production, which featured Paula Wilcox as Selby, Richard Vernon as Price, Clive Merrison as Dent and Derek Smith as the Mayor.

It has also been produced for the stage, including a major revival at the Orange Tree Theatre in London, directed by Sophie Boyce in May 2014.

Sources

Churchill, Caryl. 1990. Shorts. London: Nick Hern Books. ISBN 978-1-85459-085-5.

The Play for Today series

Robin Redbreast (1970)
Alma Mater (1971)
Edna, the Inebriate Woman (1971)
Evelyn (1971)
The Foxtrot (1971)
The Rank and File (1971)
Traitor (1971)
Home (1972)
Horace (1972)
Hard Labour (1973)
Penda's Fen (1974)
The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black Black Oil (1974)
Leeds United (1974)
The Evacuees (1975)
Funny Farm (1975)
Gangsters (1975)
Just Another Saturday (1975)
Rumpole of the Bailey (1975)
Double Dare (1976)
Bar Mitzvah Boy (1976)
Nuts in May (1976)
Abigail's Party (1977)
Spend, Spend, Spend (1977)
The Price of Coal (1977)
The Spongers (1978)
Licking Hitler (1978)
Red Shift (1978)
The After-Dinner Joke (1978)
Our Day Out (1978)
Blue Remembered Hills (1979)
Comedians (1979)
Just a Boys' Game (1979)
The Black Stuff (1980)
The Imitation Game (1980)
The Flipside of Dominick Hide (1980)
Another Flip For Dominick (1982)
Z for Zachariah (1984)
Brimstone and Treacle (1987, completed 1976)
Scum (1991, completed 1977)

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