Churchill, Caryl (1938-…), is an English dramatist known for her imaginative plays. Much of her work deals with feminist issues and with sexual and political power.
Churchill was born in London on Sept. 3, 1938. After graduating from Oxford University in 1960, she wrote radio dramas for several years. She first attracted attention with Owners (1972), a drama about the obsession with power. She made her reputation both in the United Kingdom and the United States with Cloud Nine (1979), an unconventional portrait of sexual repression in Victorian England of the middle and late 1800’s and in modern England. In the play, performers switch identities as they move from a British colony in Africa in the first act to modern London in the second act.
Churchill’s Top Girls (1982) centers on a dinner party consisting of a successful businesswoman of the 1980’s and several women from history. Churchill explores what she sees as women’s struggle to gain power in a male-dominated world. Serious Money (1987) takes a satirical look at the intrigues and power plays of London’s financial markets. Mad Forest (1990) examines life in Romania before, during, and after the rule of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who was executed in 1989. The Skriker (1994) is a fantasy with roots in English folklore.
Churchill also wrote Objections to Sex and Violence (1975), Light Shining in Buckinghamshire (1976), Vinegar Tom (1976), Fen (1983), Softcops (1984), Ice Cream (1989), and two one-act plays collectively called Blue Heart (1997). Churchill’s latest plays include Far Away (2000), A Number (2002), Drunk Enough to Say I Love You? (2006), and Escaped Alone (2016).
