Traps

First produced at the Royal Court Theatre in 1977 the play is set among a group of communards in their 20s and 30s; the only clear relationships are that 'Jack is Christie's younger brother, and Reg is her husband.' The constantly changing status of time, place, and character permit Churchill to examine the frailty of an individual life with no perceptible direction. She also undermines the self-perception of the characters as wounded or victimized by themselves, each other, or the world outside; motivation and chronology can turn on a dime, no matter the utopian intention of the community itself.