Churchill's Theatre

Churchill’s theatre often reflects her concerns with the contemporary world. Top Girls comments on the divide between laboring women and individualist Thatcherites who conformed to androcentric (male-dominated) workplaces during the early 1980s, Seven Jewish Children was written in response to the 2008 Israeli airstrike on Gaza, and Love and Information asks how we survive under the constant barrage of information granted by the digital age. Beyond analyzing social issues, Churchill often explores themes of desire. As described by Dr. Peter Buse, “They are desires which social and political structures are unwilling to accommodate - the desires of the oppressed, and most often, of women” (Buse [link to the British Council's biography on Churchill]). Through these uniquely feminist thematic ventures, Churchill was able to bring a new conversation to the mainstream theatre world. Additionally, Churchill changed the language of theatre; for example, she is credited with coining the “/” to indicate interruption in dialogue, which is used widely by modern playwrights.