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.
