Set in the early Thatcher years, Top Girls is a seminal play of the modern theatre, revealing a world of women’s experience at a pivotal moment in British history.
The play opens with an anachronistic dinner party hosted by Marlene, the newly-promoted manager of the ‘Top Girls’ employment agency. Her guests are five women from the past: a transvestite Pope, a courtesan-cum-nun, a tireless adventurer, an obedient wife from Chaucer and the leader of a charge into hell from a Bruegel painting. The feminist themes introduced by this cacophonous scene echo throughout the more contemporary action of the play, as Churchill uses the setting of the ‘Top Girls’ agency to allow a glimpse into the lives of several very different working women.
The play presents complex questions about a feminism which mimics aggressive, oppressive behaviour, and success which can only be achieved by abandoning family ties to force a way to the top.
[Source: DramaOnline.com]
1983 Obie Award-winner for Best Play
“A blistering yet sympathetic look at women who achieve success by adopting the worst traits of self-made men […] Truly original.” – The New York Times
“Very funny and provocative […] A mind lifting experience.” – The New York Post
Thu-Sat at 8:00 pm
Sun at 3:00 pm
Special Performances
Tue, Nov 7 at 8:00 pm
Post-Show Discussion
Sun, Nov 19, immediately following the matinee performance
Runtime: 2 hours 35 minutes with two intermissions
Sponsored artists indicated with
Dull Gret / Angie Caroline Dubberly
Patient Griselda / Nell Amanda Forstrom
Marlene Karina Hilleard
Pope Joan / Louise Jessica Lefkow
Lady Nijo / Win Alexandra Maria Palting
Waitress / Kit / Jeanine / Shona Daven Ralston
Isabella Bird / Joyce / Mrs. Kidd Susan Marie Rhea
Understudy Madeline Mooney
Director Amber Paige McGinnis
Assistant Director / Dialect Coach Madeline Mooney
Stage Manager Allison Poms
Assistant Stage Manager Ilyana Rose-Davila
Set Designer Matthew J. Keenan
Lighting Designer Laura Eckelman
Co-Sound Designer Justin Schmitz
Co-Sound Designer Gordon Nimmo-Smith
Costume Designer Alison Samantha Johnson
Properties Designer Cindy Landrum Jacobs
Hair and Makeup Designer Craig Miller
Dramaturg Clarke Whitehead
Marcie Cohen
Gail & Peter Hansen sponsoring Karina Hilleard and Amanda Forstrom
Roberta & Greg Milman sponsoring Susan Marie Rhea and Caroline Dubberly
Carol Galaty & Ken Shuck sponsoring Matthew J. Keenan
Russ Wolff & Jenny Woodward sponsoring Cindy Landrum Jacobs
Jim Jarboe sponsoring Clarke Whitehead