Type of Document	Thesis
Author	King, Jay M.
Author's Email Address	jmk02g@garnet.acns.fsu.edu
URN	etd-04092004-164526
Title	Rifts in Time and Space: Playing with Time in Barker, Stoppard, and Churchill
Degree	Master of Arts
Department	Theatre, School of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Carrie Sandahl Committee Chair Laura Edmondson Committee Member Mary Karen Dahl Committee Member
Keywords	Churchill Stoppard Barker Theatre of Catastrophe Top Girls Traps Invention of Love Arcadia Bite of the Night Castle Cognitive Science Contemporary British Drama Anachronism Spacetime Space Time
Date of Defense	2004-04-01
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract Space has long been a subject of theatrical theory, but rarely do scholars examine time. More specifically, what happens when playwrights break the conventional rules of time and space to present impossibilities on the stage, such as severe anachronism and non-linear story-telling? This thesis examines six plays by three contemporary British playwrights who play with time: The Castle and The Bite of the Night by Howard Barker, Arcadia and The Invention of Love by Tom Stoppard, and Traps and Top Girls by Caryl Churchill. The rifts in time and space presented by these authors create meanings that no other method could accomplish. Generally speaking, disturbances in time have the potential to disrupt the audience, taking them out of the play and encouraging them to create their own meanings. Specifically, the timeplay of each play reinforces the themes of each piece and raises certain ideological questions. Barker questions the accuracy of memory and the cultural construction of history. Stoppard discusses the impossibility of knowing the past and explores the connections between science and human action. Churchill questions the notion of progress in relation to social issues. Furthermore, each playwright plays with time in a slightly different way, using anachronism or non-linear storytelling, presenting the disruptions as real or as theatrical artifice. Combining these three playwrights and these six plays creates a puzzle that can be split in a multitude of ways, where each new point of view creates a new meaning.
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