Serious Money

by Caryl Churchill

Serious Money is perhaps Caryl Churchill's most provocative play. It is a satirical study of the effects of the "Big Bang" boom of financial markets in the 1980s and how it gave rise to hectic, chaotic, high velocity work where human values are compromised for success and wealth.

The dialogue of the play is largely overlapping with the ingenious rhyming couplets and singsong verse. It is so stylized that Churchill even includes a rhymed soliloquy and a rap number. Language in the play is coarse, there being a particular emphasis on scatological humour, and the tone is overwhelmingly angry. Churchill's characters are drawn razor sharp cartoonishly. The play's plot revolves around financial wheeler-dealers that were born into the boom and want to maximize profits above all else. The tone is contemporary, edgy, witty and has been viewed by some as massively offensive: it is a perfect example of one of Churchill's most hard-hitting works.

This Student Edition contains a chronology of the playwright's life and work; an introduction giving the background to the play, a discussion of the various interpretations and notes on individual words and phrases in the text.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, College, British Literature, Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Caryl Churchill (born 3 September 1938) is an English dramatist known for her use of non-naturalistic techniques and feminist themes, dramatisation of the abuses of power, and exploration of sexual politics.[1] She is acknowledged as a major playwright in the English language and one of world theatre's most influential writers.

Her early work developed Bertolt Brecht's modernist dramatic and theatrical techniques of 'Epic theatre' to explore issues of gender and sexuality. From A Mouthful of Birds (1986) onwards, she began to experiment with forms of dance-theatre, incorporating techniques developed from the performance tradition initiated by Antonin Artaud with his 'Theatre of Cruelty'. This move away from a clear Fabel dramaturgy towards increasingly fragmented and surrealistic narratives characterises her work as postmodernist.

Prizes and awards

Churchill has received much recognition, including the following awards:

1958 Sunday Times/National Union of Students Drama Festival Award Downstairs
1961 Richard Hillary Memorial Prize
1981 Obie Award for Playwriting, Cloud Nine
1982 Obie Award for Playwriting, Top Girls
1983 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize (runner-up), Top Girls
1984 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Fen
1987 Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy of the Year, Serious Money
1987 Obie Award for Best New Play, Serious Money
1987 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Serious Money
1988 Laurence Olivier/BBC Award for Best New Play, Serious Money
2001 Obie Sustained Achievement Award
2010 Inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Plays

Downstairs (1958)
You've No Need to be Frightened (1959?)
Having a Wonderful Time (1960)
Easy Death (1960)
The Ants, radio drama (1962)
Lovesick, radio drama (1969)
Identical Twins (1960)
Abortive, radio drama (1971)
Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen, radio drama (1971)
Owners (1972)
Schreber's Nervous Illness, radio drama (1972) – based on Memoirs of My Nervous Illness
The Hospital at the Time of the Revolution (written 1972)
The Judge's Wife, radio drama (1972)
Moving Clocks Go Slow, (1973)
Turkish Delight, television drama (1973)
Objections to Sex and Violence (1975)
Light Shining in Buckinghamshire (1976) [7]
Vinegar Tom (1976)
Traps (1976)
The After-Dinner Joke, television drama (1978)
Seagulls (written 1978)
Cloud Nine (1979)
Three More Sleepless Nights (1980)
Top Girls (1982)
Crimes, television drama (1982)
Fen (1983)
Softcops (1984)
A Mouthful of Birds (1986)
A Heart's Desire (1987)[18]
Serious Money (1987)
Ice Cream (1989)
Hot Fudge (1989)
Mad Forest (1990)
Lives of the Great Poisoners (1991)
The Skriker (1994)
Blue Heart (1997)
Hotel (1997)
This is a Chair (1999)
Far Away (2000)
Thyestes (2001) – translation of Seneca's tragedy
A Number (2002)
A Dream Play (2005) – translation of August Strindberg's play
Drunk Enough to Say I Love You? (2006)
Seven Jewish Children – a play for Gaza (2009)
Love and Information (2012)
Ding Dong the Wicked (2013)
Here We Go (play) (2015)

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caryl_Ch...

Reviews

[Alexa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm probably killing the soul of every theatre teacher I've ever had by saying this, but I am really not a fan of Caryl Churchill. I have difficulty reading her plays and I don't like the stories or dialogue. Sadly, Serious Money wasn't an exception. There was too much going on and I couldn't follow it at all. Apparently seeing Churchill's plays performed is a lot better than reading them, so I'll give that a chance, but I am so over reading this stuff.

[Mel]

no idea what was going on the whole time. now i have to research the stock market before rehearsals start next week

[Cyril N · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is interesting go back back to the eighties when trading was starting to be deregulated. It describes a world where greediness is the most important quality to be successful and to be respected. It is also an experimental form of theater at that time, with a lot of overlapping dialogs so that you can feel the frantic activity of the traders, and satirical songs to conclude each act to let the reader take a step back and have critical point of view on the characters.

[maisie grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

so glad that david went to australia and was eaten by a shark most interesting part of the whole thing

[Kat Kuo · Rating 2 out of 5]

rlly hard to take seriously

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is not that often that I read plays. Sometimes they work well as literary texts and other times, it is just better to see them live. Serious Money, by Caryl Churchill, is for me, a play that falls into the latter category. Mainly because of jumps in speech, the singing, and the fast pace and often doubled scenes. That isn’t to say that the play is not fun to read, just that it would be better live. I must admit that when a play is described as rhyming couplets about the stock exchange in London, my interests are piqued.

I have a love/hate relationship with the rhyming in Churchill’s play. Sometimes it made me laugh and other times it made me cringe. Although, upon reflection, I wonder if that is half the point? The play is extremely fast-paced and I loved that the characters are unapologetic about their greed and love of money. Scilla, was by far my favourite character. Despite the fact that she is more interested in her brother’s, Jake’s, investments than she is about his death, Scilla is extremely ballsy. And I think for the time that it was written (the late 80s), Scilla is the beautiful imperfect anti-woman. She is hard, unforgiving, driven, potty-mouthed, and everything that is not demure.

Churchill’s play was received with mixed reviews when it premiered. Some said the play was amazing and others were annoyed by the rhyming and the technical banker/stock exchange jargon. For a person who grew up after the stock exchange Big Bang, countless law suits involving Swiss banks and dirty money, and corruption and consumerism on speed, I was less than shocked by the play’s content. In fact, my lack of shock only reminded me of how cynical I’ve become, or been made.

This play is complicated and despite its short length, you should be warned that it will take you a while to pick up the pace and rhythm of it. It will also introduce you, if you don’t already know, to a game called “Pass the Pigs”. I highly suggest, that if you aren’t interested in the play, at least try the game! It’s a favourite of mine.

[Bobby Sullivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I respect modern playwrights who attempt to write in verse, because that endeavor is so much harder than composing dialogue in prose. That said, if you're gonna do it, you'd better be prepared to fall far short of Shakespeare. Alas, SERIOUS MONEY does just that. Poetry is elevated language, and there's nothing elevated about rhyming words like c*nt or f*ck. I understand that stock traders aren't the most refined individuals, but that doesn't negate the fact that their language doesn't lend itself well to verse. The plot doesn't resolve itself satisfactorily, and the characters are all incorrigible bastards, so there's just not a lot redeeming about this play. There's one very dark joke about saving £5000 that made me laugh out loud, but that's about it.

[Ben Ockrim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know if I enjoyed this play despite or because of its rhyming structure. Certainly, some moments were cool, like the 'let's make serious money' chant, but other times it was a bit naff, with some weird rhymes shoehorned in. I did like the creative imagery though, and savoured the moments where the rhyming structure was broken for effect.

I liked the large cast, the unhinged characters, the frenetic pace, and some scenes, such as the negotiation with the politician at the theatre and the summing up of the 80s in terms of AIDS advertising, were truly excellent. The ending was good too: Zach's premonition of a 'crash' was remarkably prescient. Looking back, it's a wonder the days of 'greed is good' lasted as long as they did. Maybe they were just more honest back then...

[Esther Button · Rating 3 out of 5]

(read for uni)

a constant barrage of manoeuvring and outmanoeuvring, of greed and excess. I know absolutely nothing about the stock market, at points I genuinely had no clue what they were talking about, but outside of that it was fairly easy to grasp. Stockbrokers, traders and bankers in the 80s filling their boots and disregarding absolutely anything else. The satire is quite obvious, perhaps a bit on the nose, but still thoroughly interesting and engaging.

rating as of 18/10/2024: 3 stars

[Corvyn Appleby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thiough the verse makes it easier to muddle through the weeds of all the technical jargon, it feels a bit Dr. Seuss at times. Satire is one of the hardest things to get right imo but Churchill absolutely kills it, some really scathing stuff that would still be appropriate (and controversial) today! Scilla Todd is one of my favorite characters in the past hundred years of drama. Silly levels are just too high!!

[Charlotte McCallum · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were moments I liked but otherwise not something I was particularly interested by . none of the characters are particularly likeable / you can never feel particularly close to them but I also think that’s part of the point .. I don’t really know .. and the use of verse / prose is unique but isn’t so much a style I gravitate towards in playwriting .

[Alan Gordon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think maybe you need to see this, rather than read it

[Savvy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I remembered this play existed from when I read it in theatre class, and I came to give it one star. It may be better on stage, but at least in writing, it does not age well.

[Felix]

Almost certainly more enjoyable to watch than to read but there were some amusing moments and there are undoubtedly worse ways to spend a couple of hours.

[SureDetroit · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is such a straight play I don’t like it 🫠🫠

[Steven Godin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Normally I love reading satire, whether that comes in the form of a play or a novel, but I found Churchill's Serious Money something I really coundn't get into, which is a shame, as I have generally liked her plays. To be fair, it's not her worst work, but I just don't have any real interest in the stock markets and business takeovers, and that's where the heart of the play lies through two intersecting stories.

[Darius · Rating 3 out of 5]

For 115 pages of rhyming verse on London's financial centre this was Awesome. Hard to imagine as a realized piece of theater, but that's nothing compared to the writing of the thing. It is fun to read, I just can't believe it holds a candle to seeing the thing produced with a keen eye and talented performers. I liked the whirlwind of ambition and mystery, and afterwards liked realizing I didn't particularly like any of the characters.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for Dislocations module.
I've had a soft spot for Churchill ever since I read CLOUD 9 last year (or even the year before (!)) so it was a pleasure to read her again. I thought the way this play was written was genius, the plot simple and the ideas so complex! Genuinely a very very good play - I'd love to see it performed!

[Cam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had to read it for an assignment. Interesting read and morbidly hilarious.

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

Acerbic critique of capitalism and the greedy, self-centered, money-obsessed people, who devote their lives to it in the City of London and Wall Street.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only play that was harder to watch than read. interesting context though.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Task 8: read a book originally published in the decade you were born
Task 23: read a play

[Jessie Seymour · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book was a clusterfuck