The Theatre of Caryl Churchill documents and analyses the major plays and productions of one of Britain's greatest and most innovative playwrights. Drawing on hundreds of never-before-seen archival sources from the US and the UK, it provides an essential guide to Churchill's groundbreaking work for students and theatregoers.
Each chapter illuminates connections across plays and explores major scripts alongside unpublished and unfinished projects. Each considers the rehearsal room, the stage, and the printed text. Each demonstrates how Churchill has pushed the boundaries of dramatic aesthetics while posing urgent political and theoretical questions. But since each maps Churchill's work in a different way, each deploys a different reading practice - for many approaches are necessary to characterise such a restlessly imaginative and prolific career.
Through its five interlocking parts, The Theatre of Caryl Churchill tells a story about the playwright, her work, and its place in contemporary drama.
Acknowledgments
Preface
1. Churchill's Landscapes
a) Top Girls
b) The Skriker
c) Far Away
2. Derivatives; or, Capitalism and the Theatre Industry
a) Owners
b) Serious Money
c) A Dream Play
3. Identity and the Body
a) Cloud Nine
b) Icecream
c) A Number
4. The Aesthetics and Ethics of Collaboration
a) Light Shining in Buckinghamshire
b) Fen
c) Mad Forest: A Play from Romania
5. Performance and/as Theatre
a) Traps
b) Blue Heart
c) Love and Information
6. Critical Perspectives
The Picasso of Modern British Playwrights, by Elaine Aston
The 'Times' of Caryl Churchill's Theatre, by Siān Adiseshiah
Epilogue: Exit the Author
Appendix: List of Churchill texts discussed
Appendix: List of Churchill productions discussed
Endnotes
Index