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Churchill was born in London, England. During WW2 her family emigrated to Montreal, Canada. She returned to England to attend university, and graduated from Oxford University in 1960 with a degree in English Literature. She also began her career there, writing three plays for performance by student drama groups: Downstairs, You've No Need to be Frightened, and Having a Wonderful Time.
In 1961 she married David Harter, a lawyer also from Oxford, and began raising three sons. She also began to write short radio plays for the BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation BBC is primarily a national publicly-funded broadcaster based in the United Kingdom, which also has some international services. Some of the international services (such as BBC cable TV in America, Canada and elsewhere including The Ants (1962), Not, Not, Not, Not Enough Oxygen (1971), and Schreber's Nervous Illness (1972).
Churchill wrote Owners, her first stage play, in 19721972 is a leap year starting on Saturday (click link for calendar). Events January events January 2 the Pierre Hotel Heist Six men rob the safety deposit boxes of the Pierre Hotel in New York City. Loot is at least $4 million January 5 President of the Un. Churchill's basic socialist views are very apparent in the play, which is a critique of the values that most capitalistIn economics, a capitalist is someone who owns capital, presumably within the economic system of capitalism. Not all usages of the word assume actual ownership of capital. Some philosophers and political theorists, such as Ayn Rand and David Friedman, uses take for granted: being aggressive, getting ahead, doing well. She served as resident dramatist at the Royal Court Theatre from 19741974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). Events January-February January 5 Dungeons & Dragons officially released. February 4 Patricia Hearst, the 19 year old granddaughter of publisher William Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped- 1975Events January January 1 Watergate scandal: John N. Mitchell, H. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman are found guilty of the Watergate cover-up and are sentenced to 30 months to 8 years in jail on February 21 January 5 The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, i, and later began collaboration with theatre companies such as Joint Stock and Monstrous RegimentMonstrous Regiment is an abbreviation of the title of a misogynist 16th century tract by John Knox, the full title of which is, The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women (the women in question were Mary, Queen of Scots and Mar (a feminist theatre union) which used an extended workshop period in their development of new plays. Churchill continued to use an improvizational workshop setting in the development of some of her plays.
Her first play to receive wide notice was Cloud Nine (1979), set partly in a British ColonyThis article refers to a colony in politics and history. For alternate meanings of colony see colony (disambiguation). In politics and in history, a colony is an administrative unit under the control of a geographically- distinct entity, usually an autono in the Victorian era, which examines the relationships involved in colonization, and utilizes cross-gender casting for comic and instructive effect.
In time Churchill's writing became less and less inhibited by realism, and the feminist themes were also developed. Top Girls (1982) has an all-female cast, and focusses on Marlene, who has sacrificed a home and family life to achieve success in the world of business. Half the action takes place at a celebratory dinner where Marlene mixes with historical and fictional women who achieved success in a man's world, but always at some cost. In The Skriker (1994), Churchill utilizes an associative dream logic which some critics found to be nonsensical. The play, a visionary exploration of modern urban life, follows the Skriker, a kind of northern goblin, in its search for love and revenge as it pursues two young women to London, changing its shape at every new encounter.
Serious Money (1987) is a verse play that takes a satirical look at the stock market, and received enormous acclaim, partly because it played immediately after the stock market crash of 1987.
Her 2002 play, A Number, addresses the subject of human cloning.
Churchill also wrote television plays for the BBC, and those and some of her radio plays were later adapted for the stage.
This is a list of Churchill's plays originally written for the stage. The dates are the date of first performance or first publication, whichever is earlier.