18 Caryl Churchill first editions are documented on this shelf, from Owners (1973) to Escaped Alone (2016) across 8 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Caryl Churchill title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.
Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a Caryl Churchill copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Owners — 1973 · Eyre MethuenIssued in wrappers as a Methuen Playscript, Eyre Methuen, London, 1973. Premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 1972; this was Churchill's first professionally produced stage play. The true first is the Eyre Methuen wrappers edition. UK Eyre Methuen first, issued in wrappers as a Methuen Playscript. Premiere was 1972 but publication was 1973. No book club edition.
- Light Shining in Buckinghamshire — 1978 · Pluto PressFirst published by Pluto Press, London, 1978, in the Pluto Plays series, issued in printed wrappers (ISBN 0904383741 / 978-0904383744), a slim volume of roughly 39 pages. The play was developed with the Joint Stock Theatre Group. The first edition is the wrappered Pluto Plays original; there was no simultaneous cloth issue. UK Pluto Press first, issued in wrappers as a Pluto Plays title; no hardcover first. No book club edition. Later Nick Hern / Methuen printings under different ISBNs are distinct later issues.
- Vinegar Tom — 1978 · TQ PublicationsFirst published by TQ Publications (the publishing arm of Theatre Quarterly), London, 1978, in wrappers. The play premiered in October 1976 with the Monstrous Regiment company, but the first printed edition dates to 1978. UK TQ Publications first, in wrappers. Note the gap between the 1976 premiere and the 1978 publication. No book club edition.
- Cloud Nine — 1979 · Pluto PressFirst published London by Pluto Press, 1979, in association with the Joint Stock Theatre Group; issued in wrappers with copyright page stating 'First published 1979.' Written for Joint Stock and premiered in 1979. A revised text appeared in later printings, so the 1979 Pluto issue is the earliest. UK Pluto Press 1979 is the true first. A revised text followed (Pluto in the early 1980s, then Methuen) and is a later 'first thus,' and US editions (Routledge/TCG) are later still. The later revised text differs from the 1979 Pluto first and should not be conflated with it. No book-club issue.
- Top Girls — 1982 · MethuenMethuen, London, 1982. The first edition is the softcover playscript in wrappers, copyright page stating 'First published in 1982 by Methuen London' with no later-printing line; a simultaneous hardcover in boards was also issued and is the scarcer state. Premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 1982. UK Methuen 1982 is the true first; US printings and the Samuel French acting edition followed. The hardcover-in-boards state is scarcer than the standard wrappers issue. The 1991 Methuen Drama Student Edition (added commentary by Naismith and Worrall) and later 'Churchill Plays' collected volumes are not the first edition. Watch for reprints carrying added printing lines or revised covers.
- Fen — 1983 · MethuenFirst published by Methuen, London, 1983, as Methuen New Theatrescript (Second Series) No. 13, issued in pictorial/printed wrappers (ISBN 0413529908). Developed with the Joint Stock Theatre Group; premiered January 1983. UK Methuen first, issued in wrappers as New Theatrescript No. 13. No book club edition.
- Softcops — 1984 · MethuenFirst published by Methuen, London, 1984, as a Methuen New Theatrescript, issued in stiff card wrappers with the text stapled, running to 48 pages. The surreal play, set in nineteenth-century France and drawn from Foucault's Discipline and Punish, was first produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1984 at the Barbican Pit, London. UK Methuen first, issued in wrappers as a New Theatrescript. The play was later collected in Churchill: Plays Two (1990), but the 1984 theatrescript is the true first. No book club edition. The later collected-plays appearance is a separate, subsequent issue, not the first edition.
- Objections to Sex and Violence — 1985 · MethuenFirst book appearance in the anthology Plays by Women: Volume Four, edited by Michelene Wandor, Methuen, London, 1985 (ISBN 0413567400). Issued in wrappers. The volume also contains plays by Grace Dayley, Liz Lochhead, and Alison Lyssa. No separate single-play first edition of this title. First collected in Plays by Women: Volume Four (Methuen, 1985). The play premiered at the Royal Court in 1975 but was not published on its own; the anthology is the first book appearance. No book club edition.
- Serious Money — 1987 · MethuenMethuen, London, 1987, in the Royal Court Writers series; issued in card wrappers (paperback original), copyright page stating 'First published in 1987 by Methuen' with no later-printing line. Published for the first performances at the Royal Court Theatre in 1987. UK Methuen 1987 is the true first; a revised text followed after the West End transfer, so confirm the first-printing state via the copyright page. Revised editions, the Methuen Student Edition, and the 'Churchill Plays: Two' collected volume are later. No book-club issue.
- Icecream — 1989 · Nick Hern BooksSoftcover in glossy pictorial wrappers (no hardcover was issued); Nick Hern Books, London, 1989, ISBN 1-85459-016-2, published in the Royal Court Theatre series to coincide with the play's 1989 Royal Court premiere. The play is set half in Britain and half in the United States, following an English brother and sister and an American couple. UK Nick Hern Books first. Hern founded his imprint in 1988 after leaving Methuen, so this 1989 play is a genuine NHB original rather than a Methuen title. The US Theatre Communications Group edition is later. No book-club edition; NHB play texts are issued only as trade softcovers, so there is no hardcover or club state to confuse with the first.
- Mad Forest — 1990 · Nick Hern BooksSoftcover in wrappers (no hardcover was issued); Nick Hern Books, London, 1990, in the NHB Modern Plays series, ISBN 1-85459-044-8 (9781854590442), subtitled 'A Play from Romania.' A trade play text with printed price to the rear cover; the first printing carries the original 1990 Nick Hern Books imprint and no later-impression statement. UK Nick Hern Books first, issued for the play's premiere directed by Mark Wing-Davey with students of the Central School of Speech and Drama in June 1990; the production travelled to the National Theatre in Bucharest in September 1990 and opened at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in October 1990. Later US and Currency Press (Australia) editions, and the later Samuel French acting edition (ISBN 9780573693328), follow. No book club edition; NHB play texts are trade softcovers only. Distinguish the Nick Hern first from the later Samuel French acting edition, which carries a different ISBN.
- The Skriker — 1994 · Nick Hern BooksSoftcover in wrappers, no hardcover issued; Nick Hern Books, London, first published 1994, ISBN 1-85459-275-0 (9781854592750), issued as an NHB Modern Play to coincide with the National Theatre production. Trade paperback of roughly 52 pages; the copyright page reads 'First published in Great Britain in 1994 by Nick Hern Books.'. UK Nick Hern Books, 1994, is the true first. The US Theatre Communications Group edition (ISBN 1-55936-097-6) is a later, separate issue. No book club edition; NHB play texts are trade softcovers only. Later NHB reprints retain the same ISBN, so identify the first by the unqualified 'First published in Great Britain in 1994' statement with no reprint line added.
- Blue Heart — 1997 · Nick Hern BooksSoftcover in wrappers (no hardcover issued); Nick Hern Books, London, 1997, containing the two linked plays 'Heart's Desire' and 'Blue Kettle,' issued for the Out of Joint / Royal Court co-production. UK Nick Hern Books first. US Theatre Communications Group edition (ISBN 1-55936-154-9) is later. No book club edition; NHB play texts are trade softcovers only.
- Far Away — 2000 · Nick Hern BooksSoftcover in wrappers (no hardcover was issued); Nick Hern Books, London, 2000, ISBN 1-85459-600-4, published to coincide with the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs premiere in November 2000. A trade play text with the printed cover price present. UK Nick Hern Books first (2000). The US Theatre Communications Group edition (ISBN 1-55936-199-9) is later. No book club edition; NHB play texts are trade softcovers only. Later Nick Hern issues include a separate 2020 Donmar Warehouse revival edition (ISBN 978-1-84842-873-7) with a distinct cover and its own ISBN, which is not the 2000 first.
- A Number — 2002 · Nick Hern BooksTrade softcover in wrappers, issued flat (no hardcover was published); Nick Hern Books, London, 2002, in the NHB Modern Plays series, ISBN 1-85459-709-4 (9781854597090). Published to coincide with the Royal Court Theatre (Jerwood Theatre Downstairs) premiere directed by Stephen Daldry with Michael Gambon and Daniel Craig. First-issue copies carry the -709-4 ISBN on the copyright page and back cover; the play won…. The UK Nick Hern Books wrappered first (ISBN 1-85459-709-4) is the true first. A later NHB reissue appeared under a new ISBN, 1-85459-743-4 (9781854597434), and is a subsequent state; the US Theatre Communications Group edition (ISBN 1-55936-225-1) is later still. No book club edition exists; Nick Hern Books play texts are trade softcovers only. Distinguish the true first from the later NHB reissue by the -709-4 rather than -743-4 ISBN.
- Drunk Enough to Say I Love You? — 2006 · Nick Hern BooksOriginal paperback in wrappers, Nick Hern Books, London, 2006, an NHB Modern Plays title published to coincide with the Royal Court premiere at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs in November 2006. ISBN 1-85459-959-3 (9781854599599). The UK Nick Hern Books paperback is the true first. Churchill's plays are published in the UK by Nick Hern, typically as acting-edition wrappers timed to the production; there is no precedent hardcover. No book club edition.
- Love and Information — 2012 · Nick Hern BooksOriginal paperback in wrappers, Nick Hern Books, London, 2012, ISBN 9781848422889, issued in the NHB Modern Plays series to coincide with the Royal Court Theatre premiere in September 2012. The text prints Churchill's kaleidoscope of more than a hundred short scenes as a script of largely unallocated lines, with an appendix of alternative or 'random' options, so the first printing should carry the NHB Modern…. The UK Nick Hern Books paperback (2012) is the true first edition; there is no precedent hardcover. The play was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in September 2012. No book club edition.
- Escaped Alone — 2016 · Nick Hern BooksOriginal paperback in wrappers, Nick Hern Books, London, issued 16 January 2016 in the NHB Modern Plays series for the Royal Court Theatre premiere directed by James Macdonald. Roughly 64 pages. ISBN 9781848425491. UK Nick Hern Books paperback is the true first. No precedent hardcover; issued only in wrappers. No book club edition.
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