By Emma
Link: https://greenwichtheatre.org.uk/events/the-after-dinner-joke-online
Available until: On demand until 11.59pm on 31st March
The After Dinner Joke wasn’t anything like what I was expecting based on the title. There isn’t very much about dinner and all the humour is very dark. But it was still really good.
It’s by Caryl Churchill (who wrote another play which I saw in lockdown and I think she’s a really interesting writer who writes really interesting roles for women) and it follows a young lady who is known as Selby but I think it’s her surname. She has a very good job but she decides she wants to get into charity work.
Selby has a really eventful time. She really throws herself into everything and she’s really passionate, enthusiastic and idealistic. She really cares about the charity and she wants to make a success of her job but it’s not as easy as she thinks. The Mayor insists everything is political (apart from her pets). The popstar goes out of his way to make her uncomfortable. (I hope that’s what he’s doing anyway. I hope he’s not telling the truth.) It’s not easy trying to persuade people to give her money. It’s also not easy trying to turn down money.
The play is made up of lots of short scenes involving lots of characters. Some of the characters seem completely unconnected from the main story but it all joins up later. The humour is very sharp and I think it might be a satire but even though it’s quite funny, it’s also very dark and it makes lots of observations about human beings which aren’t always positive but are very true. It was written in 1978 but it’s been updated to the present day with modern technology and modern politicians and it has a very contemporary feel.
The play is filmed on Zoom in multiple locations but it’s not just people sitting at their computers reading their lines. Director James Haddrell has been really ambitious and has asked his actors to film in all sorts of ways, in all sorts of places and it makes it feel even more real and makes you more aware of all the issues and how relevant they are. I also really love the way he’s filmed the thief’s scenes kind of in sepia. There is also lots of background music throughout the play which really adds to each scene and helps to set the mood
The cast are all supposed to be recent graduates. There is quite a big age range of actors and I’m not sure the teenage girl or the baby are recently graduated (they are seriously talented though, the teenage girl argues her point so well while still being a moany teen and that baby shakes her head like a pro) but assuming the others are all recent graduates, I think it’s great to show the world that you can’t be too old to start studying something new and new talent can be discovered at any age.
I’m not sure who plays the different characters as the cast list doesn’t say who plays who. It might be in order of appearance but I don’t want to guess in case I get it wrong. But Selby is brilliant, even though she’s very driven, she’s still really likeable. The way she changes in response to what happens to her is really well done. Ritz is also really lovely and the Mayor is eccentric and funny. Dent is really interesting to watch, she’s pushy but she’s often quite subtle about it. The three councillors are fun and very brave.
There are also some great cameos from characters that only appear once but they’re all really good. There’s sometimes a slight exaggeration as part of the humour but it’s so easily to believe that charity workers do meet people like that.
The After Dinner Joke really makes me feel I
definitely make the right decision in not becoming a charity worker but I do
have a bit more sympathy for them now.
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