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Caryl Churchill
The volume traces the scope and development of Caryl Churchill's theatre from her early writing for radio and television, through her stage career of the 1970s and 1980s to her recent major success Far Away (2000). Making use of contemporary critical and feminist theory, the study offers close
dramatic and theatrical readings of the plays highlighting Churchill's concerns with feminism, socialism and theatrical style. A key chapter on 'The Woman Writer' examines those plays, including Cloud Nine and Top Girls, which brought Churchill to the attention of the international feminist theatre
academy, and links Churchill's emergent feminism to her personal struggle to combine a career in the theatre with motherhood. Detailing the international success of play such as Serious Money and Mad Forest, alongside some of the lesser known and lesser studied earlier work, this accessible account
illustrates how Churchill has come to be recognised as one of the leading playwrights of our contemporary theatre.
dramatic and theatrical readings of the plays highlighting Churchill's concerns with feminism, socialism and theatrical style. A key chapter on 'The Woman Writer' examines those plays, including Cloud Nine and Top Girls, which brought Churchill to the attention of the international feminist theatre
academy, and links Churchill's emergent feminism to her personal struggle to combine a career in the theatre with motherhood. Detailing the international success of play such as Serious Money and Mad Forest, alongside some of the lesser known and lesser studied earlier work, this accessible account
illustrates how Churchill has come to be recognised as one of the leading playwrights of our contemporary theatre.
Paperback
First published November 3, 2010
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July 26, 2021
'"Playwrights don't give answers, they ask questions", wrote Churchill in an early essay on theatre" (in 'Twentieth Century' Nov 1960). This signposts what to expect from Churchill's plays and Aston further enlightens us: 'Churchill's theatre is not just a question of politics, but a politics of style'. Churchill's experimental approach leads to 'Exploding Words and Worlds' (Chapter 5 in Aston). In this 2001 second edition, Aston competently takes us through an analysis of Churchill's plays up to and including 'Far Away'(2000). Churchill's plays are fascinating and often not only point to problems at the time, but are prophetic. Consequently they remain very pertinent to our world today.
I have happy memories of performing in two of Churchill's plays, 'Vinegar Tom' and 'Light Shining in Buckinghamshire' at Birmingham University when I was a student there in the early 1980s and I remain very grateful to my tutors there for introducing me to her work. I particularly recommend her play 'Cloud Nine'(1979), which explores colonial and sexual oppression as well as 'Top Girls' (1982), described by Aston as a 'socialist-feminist critique of bourgeois-feminist values'.
This book is a useful tool for obtaining an overview of Churchill's plays - read it, read Churchill's plays and either go and see, or get involved in performing in some of them. You may at times feel bewildered, you are likely to be inspired - you are unlikely to forget Churchill's creations.
I have happy memories of performing in two of Churchill's plays, 'Vinegar Tom' and 'Light Shining in Buckinghamshire' at Birmingham University when I was a student there in the early 1980s and I remain very grateful to my tutors there for introducing me to her work. I particularly recommend her play 'Cloud Nine'(1979), which explores colonial and sexual oppression as well as 'Top Girls' (1982), described by Aston as a 'socialist-feminist critique of bourgeois-feminist values'.
This book is a useful tool for obtaining an overview of Churchill's plays - read it, read Churchill's plays and either go and see, or get involved in performing in some of them. You may at times feel bewildered, you are likely to be inspired - you are unlikely to forget Churchill's creations.
Displaying 1 of 1 review