1.) Still alive and actively writing
2.) Had Love and Information was published in 2012
Although it's clear that this is a contemporary text I think it's worth thinking about the fact that the text was written in a time that all of us were both alive for and cognizant of. Love and Information is very much a response to the society we function in.
However it is important to note that Caryl Churchill is much older than all of us. She is currently 76 so the age gap is pretty substantial for all of us. She is English and attended Lady Margaret Hall, a college of Oxford University that was an all women's college when she attended. She began writing as a college student and found her work well received. She is also noted as a very important and influential feminist play write.
A lot of her early work was written in the 1960's and 1970's and were radio plays for the BBC. What's interesting to me is that a lot these plays that she wrote for radio tested the technical limits of the medium. In her radio play, Identical Twins, she was adamant that the twins be played by the same actor. She insisted that each the dialogue between the two twins overlap at numerous points, a feat that was not easily accomplished over the radio in the 1960's.
However, in productions of her work in which she has been involved, she has proven herself nothing but collaborative. Since 1974 she has been a key artist in residence at the Royal Court Theatre (RCT) in London. A great deal of her work has been produced at RCT.
The last two points I'd like to note is that fact that Caryl Churchill does not give interviews. She has rather famously stated that the "plays speak for themselves". In this same vein when she is involved in a production of her work she is very collaborative but has definite boundaries as where she feels her input is absolutely not appropriate.
Allan Corduner, who has acted in several productions of Churchill's work, recalls a moment in which he struggled to find his character. He asked Churchill for guidance, she gently told him that it was not her role to give him meaning. While Churchill is collaborative and subjective when discussing her work she refuses to give actors and creators insight where she believes they must find their own.
Last thing, apparently she will write plays and appear with them. A long standing artistic direct of RTC once said that the RTC has never actually commissioned a play from Churchill. Instead she just appears with something new. Occasionally she'll write something new during a production of another one of her plays. Again she refuses to speak publicly about her work.
There's a lot to think about here, especially considering the work we're doing with Love and Information.
However it is important to note that Caryl Churchill is much older than all of us. She is currently 76 so the age gap is pretty substantial for all of us. She is English and attended Lady Margaret Hall, a college of Oxford University that was an all women's college when she attended. She began writing as a college student and found her work well received. She is also noted as a very important and influential feminist play write.
A lot of her early work was written in the 1960's and 1970's and were radio plays for the BBC. What's interesting to me is that a lot these plays that she wrote for radio tested the technical limits of the medium. In her radio play, Identical Twins, she was adamant that the twins be played by the same actor. She insisted that each the dialogue between the two twins overlap at numerous points, a feat that was not easily accomplished over the radio in the 1960's.
However, in productions of her work in which she has been involved, she has proven herself nothing but collaborative. Since 1974 she has been a key artist in residence at the Royal Court Theatre (RCT) in London. A great deal of her work has been produced at RCT.
The last two points I'd like to note is that fact that Caryl Churchill does not give interviews. She has rather famously stated that the "plays speak for themselves". In this same vein when she is involved in a production of her work she is very collaborative but has definite boundaries as where she feels her input is absolutely not appropriate.
Allan Corduner, who has acted in several productions of Churchill's work, recalls a moment in which he struggled to find his character. He asked Churchill for guidance, she gently told him that it was not her role to give him meaning. While Churchill is collaborative and subjective when discussing her work she refuses to give actors and creators insight where she believes they must find their own.
Last thing, apparently she will write plays and appear with them. A long standing artistic direct of RTC once said that the RTC has never actually commissioned a play from Churchill. Instead she just appears with something new. Occasionally she'll write something new during a production of another one of her plays. Again she refuses to speak publicly about her work.
There's a lot to think about here, especially considering the work we're doing with Love and Information.
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