The After-Dinner Joke Play by Caryl Churchill (Farsi)

Description

Caryl Churchill, a pioneer of modern theatre, is known for her radical and innovative approach to dramatic form and structure, and The After-Dinner Joke is a clear example of this mastery. Using fragmented scenes, rapid tonal shifts, and sharp satire, the play exposes the unstable relationship between altruism and the power structures that sustain inequality. The story centers on Seli, a young idealistic woman who leaves her corporate job to work for a charity, believing she can create real change. She soon discovers that charity and business are deeply intertwined and is repeatedly told that “charity is not political.” Through a series of absurd and surreal encounters with bureaucrats, celebrities, business figures, and the media, Seli realizes that genuine change is far more complex than she imagined. Composed of over sixty brief, fast-paced scenes, the play uses humor and exaggeration to reveal how charitable systems often reinforce, rather than challenge, the status quo.