Caryl Churchill

In 1961, she married David Harter, a barrister. The couple has three sons, namely, Joe, Paul and Rick. Her husband was very supportive and gave up his lucrative private law practice so that she could spend ample time in writing.

She was born on September 3, 1938 in London, England to Robert Churchill, a political cartoonist and Jan Churchill, a fashion model. She was the only child of her parents.

When she was 10 years old, her family moved to Montreal, Canada. She did her schooling from the Trafalgar School for Girls.

In 1957, she returned to England for her college studies. In 1960, she graduated with a B.A. Degree in English Literature from Lady Margaret Hall, a women’s college of the prestigious Oxford University.

During her college years, she developed a keen interest in dramatics and also wrote some plays which were performed by the student drama groups of the university.

She wrote several plays such as ‘Downstairs’ (1958), ‘You’ve No Need to be Frightened’ and ‘Having a Wonderful Time’ (1960) while she was in the college.

After graduating from Oxford University, she started writing short radio dramas for BBC radio which were successful in capturing the attention of listeners. Some of them were ‘The Ants’ (1962), ‘Not, Not, Not, Not Enough Oxygen’ (1971) and ‘Schreber’s Nervous Illness’ (1972).

After her radio plays, she decided to write television plays for BBC which were not much appreciated as compared to her radio plays, although, her TV play ‘The Judge’s Wife’ in 1973 and ‘Shorts’ in 1990 were quite successful.

In 1972, she wrote her first professional play for the theatre, ‘Owners’, which premiered at London’s Royal Court Theatre. She became the resident dramatist of Royal Court in 1974.

In the 1980s, she worked with many theatre companies such as Joint Stock and Monstrous Regiment producing some of her finest works like ‘Cloud Nine’ and ‘A Mouthful of Birds’.

In 2000, she wrote a play titled ‘Far Away’ based on the premise of a world in which everything in nature is at war. It premiered at the Royal Court under the well-known director Stephen Daldry. It features the story of a girl who is afraid of the duality created by this new world and cannot think of anyone who is not a part of this war, not even nature.

Her 1979 play, ‘Cloud Nine’, is considered a mature and sensible piece of work. It explores the complex relationships prevailing in the society and their consequences. It deals with the mature subjects of attraction, homosexuality and bisexuality among the central characters of the play.

Her 1982 play, ‘Top Girls’, is a notable play in her career which gained her immense appreciation from the critics. It focuses on the struggle and sacrifices of a woman to achieve success in this male dominated society. It gives us a satirical view of the suffering of a woman in different ways in our society.

Her 1987 play, ‘Serious Money’, is a remarkable play, known for being largely written in rhyming couplets. It is a satirical representation of the business world set in the backdrop of British stock market.