First Published 1989, Churchill: The Playwright is an illuminating and comprehensive guide to Caryl Churchill’s stage, television, and radio plays. Alongside Top Girls, Fen and Serious Money, plays that have established Churchill as one of the most notable writers of the decade, Geraldine Cousin examines some of Churchill's major themes-the nature of time and the revolutionary possibilities for change- in earlier plays such as Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, Traps and Cloud Nine.
Through detailed analysis Geraldine Cousin shows Churchill's development towards the challenging, innovative style and combination of pungent satire and compassion, that have made her such a successful chronicler and critic of our time. This is a must read for scholars and researchers of theatre studies.
Illustrations Chronology Introduction 1. Light Shining in Buckinghamshire 2. Other Joint Stock Plays and Vinegar Tom 3. The Radio Plays 4. The Possibilities Realized and Denied 5. Revolt and the Systems of Control 6. Conclusion Notes Bibliographical Note Index
Biography
Geraldine Cousin (back in 1989 when this book was first published) was a Lecturer in Theatre Studies at the University of Warwick.
Reviews of the original publication:
‘’a playwright as richly various as Caryl Churchill sets a hard task for a critic with a brief to summarize the achievement in not much over 100 pages. Geraldine Cousin rises admirably to the challenge. She provides A pithy, informative account of the main lines of development and interest while managing to register sensitive, personal reactions to individual scenes. She conveys a clear sense of the haunting quality often to be felt in Churchill's tough, earthy, part Brechtian theatre.’’
Theatre Research International, Volume 16
