On Dramatic Narrative in Caryl Churchill’s Vinegar Tom

Abstract

Caryl Churchill, in Vinegar Tom, discloses the social plight of marginalized and powerless women through her innovative theatrical methods. The episodic scenes, coupled with cross-cast doubling and contemporary songs, contribute to the formation of a plurality of theatrical implication. Churchill’s experimentation with dramatic narrative, which ingeniously interweaves with feminist theory and gender politics, represents her attempt to explore the possibilities of a feminist aesthetic. The play challenges the dominant versions of witchcraft history as constructed by patriarchy, and simultaneously, points out the continuing impact of gender constrictions on women in contemporary society. Churchill’s commitment to social injustice requires the use of innovative theatrical forms.