Event

Auditions for 
The After-Dinner Joke
by Caryl Churchill
directed by Tai Verley

Audition Dates and Location:

Monday, March 24th: 6pm - 8pm
Tuesday, March 25th: 7pm - 9pm

Note: Callbacks will be held on Sunday, March 30th, 1pm to 4pm.

Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Room 511 (Upper Mezzanine)
From the main lobby, take the elevator or stairs up to the UM floor. Room 511 is at the top of the main stairs.

Audition Details:

Auditions are open to all Penn students; no prior experience is required. On 3/24 and 3/25, auditions will be first-come, first-serve in order of arrival. Sides (excerpts from the script) will be provided when you arrive. Come prepared to share a joke or a special skill; and be prepared to move and be silly. 

We are also looking for a stage manager, and an assistant stage manager/dramaturg. If you are interested in either of these roles, please e-mail Cat Johnson at catj@sas.upenn.edu

About The After-Dinner Joke

The After-Dinner Joke by Caryl Churchill is a dark comedy on the "business" of "doing good." Through a series of avalanching vignettes, Selby endeavors to avoid politics, help those in need, and avoid capitalistic greed -- but with a zany ensemble of characters helping (and hindering!) her, the humanitarian highway might not be straight as she wishes. (Double and triple castings galore!)

Rehearsal and Performance Schedule

Performance Information:
Thursday, November 20th to Sunday, November 23rd, 2025
Bruce Montgomery Theatre, Annenberg Center

All cast members must be able to register for THAR3500 (details below). The official meeting time of the class will be Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:15 to 8:15 pm from August 27th to November 24th, 2025. Additional rehearsals will take place on weekend afternoons (once per week). Enrollees must also commit to  all evenings during tech and dress rehearsals in the performance week from Saturday, November 15th through Saturday, November 22nd, 2025, and a matinee performance followed by load-out on Sunday, November 23rd, 2025.

About Theatre Arts 3500 (a credit-bearing course)

Theatre Arts 3500: Rehearsal and Performance is designed to provide students with deep intellectual and artistic immersion in the theatrical process through intensive research, rehearsal, and performance of a full-length stage piece. Students may enroll in this course as actors through audition, or as stage managers through interview. 

Students who are offered acting or stage management roles will be required to register for THAR3500. The course meets on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:15 to 8:15 pm from August 27th and November 24th and provides 1 CU, which will count towards your course limit for the semester. (Additional meeting times will be required.)

Interested in production and technical roles?

Stage managers, scenery and props build, props head, wardrobe, running crew, are some of the commonly available roles. Some production roles will require registration in THAR 3500, some will require different schedules including rehearsals and/or tech week and performances, still other roles will instead require weekly daytime availability. Students interested in production and technical roles should contact Cat Johnson, Production Coordinator at catj@sas.upenn.edu.

About the Director

Tai Verley (she/her) is a NYC-born, Philadelphia-settled multifaceted artist. After attending Vassar College for undergraduate studies, Tai obtained her M.F.A. in Acting from The New School for Drama. While her acting credits include companies like the Arden Theatre Company, Delaware Shakespeare Festival, and Philadelphia Artists’ Collective, Tai has also directed pieces for academic institutions like Villanova, Arcadia University, and West Chester University (upcoming 2022). As a 2021 HATCH AT THE SCHOOLHOUSE Resident Lead Artist, Tai began writing her first play, "3Sis", which is an adaptation of Chekhov's "Three Sisters" centering joyful, contemporary Black women. And she is also currently the Artistic Director of Revolution Shakespeare (RevShakes), a small theatre company (here in Philly!) hoping to deconstruct and decolonize the Bard's work.