Caryl Churchill est une dramaturge anglaise acclamée, célèbre pour ses techniques non naturalistes et ses puissants thèmes féministes. Son œuvre examine constamment les abus de pouvoir et explore des questions complexes de politique sexuelle, s'établissant comme une voix significative dans le théâtre contemporain. Initialement, elle a adapté les techniques du théâtre épique de Bertolt Brecht pour disséquer les questions de genre et de sexualité. Plus tard, elle a évolué vers la danse-théâtre expérimentale et des récits de plus en plus fragmentés et surréalistes, la marquant comme une dramaturge postmoderne distinctive. L'approche innovante de Churchill de la forme dramatique et sa profonde profondeur thématique consolident son influence sur le théâtre mondial.
Spanning a whole decade and embracing a huge range of style and subject matter, this fourth volume of collected plays confirms the author's standing as the best English language female playwright. It also includes an introduction by Churchill, who rarely writes about her work and refuses to give interviews.
In this collection of plays from one of our finest dramatists, Caryl Churchill demonstrates her remarkable ability to find new forms to express profound truths about the world we live in. Complete with a new introduction by the author.
A new short play from Caryl Churchill. What If If Only premiered in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in September 2021.
In Traps, a set of characters meet themselves and their pasts to create "plenty of sinewy lines and joyous juxtapostions" (Plays and Players); Vinegar Tom "is set in the world of seventeenth-century witchcraft, but it speaks, through its striking images and its plethora of ironic contradictions, of and to this century..." (Tribune); Light Shining in Buckinghamshire is set during the Civil War and "unflinchingly shows the intolerance that was the obverse side of the demand for common justice. Deftly, it sketches in the kind of social conditions.. that led to hunger for revolution...The play has an austere eloquence that precisely matches its subject." (The Guardian) Cloud Nine sheds light on some of the British Empire's repressed dark side and is "a marvelous play - sometimes scurrilous, always observed with wicked accuracy, and ultimately, surprisingly, rather moving. It plunges straight to the heart of the endless convolutions of sexual mores...and does so with acrobatic wit." (Guardian) Owners:"I was in an old woman's flat when a young man offering her money to move came round, that was one of the starting points of the play" (Caryl Churchill). The plays in this volume represent the best of Churchill's writing up to and including her emergence onto the international theatre scene with Cloud Nine.
"Softcops renders the philosophy of Foucault as a music-hall turn and Victorian freakshow "theatre and history combine to give such intelligent fun" —The London Standard "Top Girls brings five great and less-than-great women from history together for a dinner party and "has a combination of directness and complexity which keeps you both emotionally and intellectually alert"—Sunday Times Fen scrutinizes the lives of the low-paid women potato pickers of the fens (in Eastern England) and "the playwright pins down her poetic subject matter in dialogue of impressive vigour and economy"—Financial Times Serious Money is a satirical study of the effects of the Big Bang - "Pure genius…the first play about the city to capture the authentic atmosphere of the place."—Daily Telegraph
Caryl Churchill, hailed by Tony Kushner as "the greatest living English language playwright," has turned her extraordinary dramatic gifts to the subject of human cloning—how might a man feel to discover that he is only one in a number of identical copies. And which one of him is the original. . . ?“Churchill’s harrowing bioethics fable leaves us with a number of things to chew on.” –Kris Vire, Time Out Chicago“ A Number confirms Churchill’s status as the first dramatist of the 21st century. On the face of it, it is human cloning… Like all Churchill’s best plays, A Number deals with both the essentials and the extremities of human experience… The questions this brilliant, harrowing play asks are almost unanswerable, which is why they must be asked.” – Sunday Times“Caryl Churchill’s magnificent new play only last an hour but contains more drama, and more ideas, than most writers manage in a dozen full-length works.” – Daily TelegraphCaryl Churchill has written for the stage, television and radio. A renowned and prolific playwright, her plays include Cloud Nine, Top Girls, Far Away, Drunk Enough to Say I Love You?, Bliss, Love and Information, Mad Forest and A Number . In 2002, she received the Obie Lifetime Achievement Award and 2010, she was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
Full of analysis and interpretation, historical background, discussions and commentaries, York Notes will help you get right to the heart of the text you're studying, whether it's poetry, a play or a novel.
A landmark play about sexual politics in colonial Africa and modern-day Britain, in which all our assumptions about sex and gender are stunningly exploded. Set in both colonial Africa and modern-day Britain, Cloud Nine is about relationships - between women and men, men and men, women and women. It is about sex, work, mothers, Africa, power, children, grandmothers, politics, and money. Caryl Churchill's play Cloud Nine was first staged by Joint Stock and premiered in London at the Royal Court Theatre in 1979. It has since been staged all over the world.
Serious Money is a Jonsonian satire about capitalism running rampant and unchecked. All money corrupts and serious money corrupts absolutely in the play's world of shady financial deals, insider trading and get rich quick wheeler dealers of both sexes. Not only does the play capture almost every aspect of dirty dealing and money grubbing from London to Wall Street, but it does so in extremely ingenious rhymed couplets!
The narrative addresses the deep-seated anger and resentment stemming from historical injustices, including slavery and mass violence. It highlights a struggle against perceived moral impositions, particularly regarding LGBTQ+ acceptance, reflecting a broader theme of resistance against external influences and cultural conflicts. The intense emotions conveyed suggest a powerful exploration of identity, heritage, and the fight for autonomy in the face of societal pressures.
Aging and death are explored through three distinct sections in this play. The first part features friends at a funeral, engaging in a detached conversation about their deceased companion. The second section presents a poignant monologue reflecting on the afterlife. Finally, the third part depicts an intimate moment between a dying man and his caring caregiver as he is dressed and undressed, highlighting themes of love and vulnerability in the face of mortality.
The story unfolds as the protagonist encounters an open door in a fence, leading to a mysterious space inhabited by three familiar women. This intriguing premise hints at themes of connection and the unexpected intersections of lives, inviting readers to explore the relationships and secrets that may lie behind the door. The narrative promises a blend of curiosity and discovery as the protagonist navigates this unexpected encounter.
