WELFAREWELL, by Cat Delaney, directed by Nancy Bondurant Couch, is a comic and deeply moving play about Esmerelda Quipp, an 80-year-old former Shakespearean actress played by CCP veteran Diane Stammel, who finds herself living on a meager pension that can’t cover her rent or groceries.
Facing eviction and the indignities of poverty, Esmerelda devises an unusual solution: she deliberately commits petty crimes so she can be sent to jail, where at least she’ll have food and shelter. What begins as a clever scheme evolves into a powerful commentary on aging, dignity, and society’s treatment of its most vulnerable.
Full of sharp wit, theatrical flair, and unexpected tenderness, Welfarewell is both a biting satire and a poignant reminder of the resilience of the human spirit.
WELFAREWELL will run April 17 and 18 at 7:30 p.m. and April 19, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. at the Wieting Theatre, 168 Main Street, Worcester, New York 12197
The Catskill Community Players are a recipient of a Community Events Grant administered by the Otsego County Government.
CCP events are made possible with public funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a program of the NYS Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and administered by The Earlville Opera House.
The Institute for Spiritual Development (ISD) 297 River St. Service Road, Suite 3, Oneonta, NY. (Next to the Hampton Inn, above Helios Care)
You are invited to any one of the following dates for auditions.
· Saturday, January 10: 10:00 AM – 11 AM
· Sunday, January 11: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
No previous experience required—everyone welcome!
Be prepared to read from the script!
All roles open—bring your energy, enthusiasm, and love for live theater!
Rehearsals
Rehearsals will be held in Oneonta at 297 River St. Service Road beginning in late January.
Rehearsals will move to the Wieting Theater in Worcester on March 9.
Performance Dates & Location
Show Dates: April 17, 18, & 19, 2026
Venue: Wieting Theatre, 197 Main St., Worcester, NY
Roles & Descriptions
ESMERELDA QUIPP – Female 80s. A former actress, pensioner. Esmerelda has a refined “stage” English accent.
H.B. (HONEY BUNCH) HACKETT – 35, police officer
VAL – 30, a film actress, posing as a hooker (real name is Rosanna Palermo)
PENELOPE FARTHINGALE – 45, a hard working hooker past her best-before date and lacking a pension plan.
DOTTIE RAMSBOTTOM – 50, a compulsive shoplifter
ALFRED DAVID – 30, lawyer; a weary public defender.
JENNIFER DOER – 25, a naïve social worker / do-gooder
GLADYS SYMMINGTON-BUKOVITCH – 55, a rich woman who shot her husband, but he failed to die
JUDGE JULIUS – 55, a crusty, caring female
MILDRED MCGONIGLE – 60ish, a bank customer
LANDLORD – 40, a beer-bellied bully
Three BANK TELLERS
A BANK CUSTOMER
A CHEF
MADGE HODGE – 50ish, the cafeteria lady
PRODUCER – 40s a male theater producer
DIRECTOR – 30-40, a female theater director
MRS. MACPHERSON – 70ish, an amateur actor
MISS DONNINGTON – 70ish, an amateur actor
Play Overview
Esmerelda Quipp is 80, still of sound mind, but her body is beginning to “come unglued”, as she puts it. Having spent her working life as an actress, age pushing her gradually out of the business, she now faces the fact that her meagre government pension is insufficient to support her, even with her minimal needs. When she is arrested for attempting to bury her dead cat in her landlord’s yard, she finds that there is some sense of community, not to mention free room and board, within the prison system. She devises a plan to get herself sent back to jail; she robs a bank. But a well-meaning public defender gets the charges against her dropped. Esmerelda Quipp is undeterred! Using money she gets from returning stolen wine bottles to a recycling depot, she buys a toy gun at the local dollar store, and commits armed robbery. Knowing that she will be convicted because she will plead guilty, she assumes that she can spend the rest of her days living free, hanging out with other women, and being fed decently in a women’s prison. But the system that has failed her also wants to forgive her because of her age and general health, and the public defender wants to use an insanity plea to get her off. How will Esmerelda convince the legal system she should be incarcerated, literally, for life?
Questions? Contact Director Nancy Bondurant Couch for more details: nancybcouch@yahoo.com
We look forward to seeing you at auditions—come be part of the fun!
The Catskill Community Players are a recipient of a Community Events Grant administered by the Otsego County Government.
CCP events are made possible with public funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a program of the NYS Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and administered by The Earlville Opera House.
