January 25, 2012
Caryl Churchill's play about success, feminism and the 1980s could easily have been written last year and intended as a warning about where rampant Thatcherism leads. It's all the more impressive when you consider Top Girls is 30 years old, and was actually a scarily prescient take on what trouble Thatcherism might cause.
There are several other amazing things about the play. Its cast is entirely female, and that's rare. 7 actresses portray 16 different characters, and almost as many accents, from wildly varying centuries. Acts II and III follow a fairly normal storyline, but they are preceded by a dinner party for famous women through the ages. This surreal scene brings together a Japanese courtesan and Buddhist nun from the 13th Century, a Victorian traveller, characters from legend and paintings, and a Pope Joan. They've come to celebrate Marlene's promotion to MD of Top Girls Recruitment Agency.
In a scene Ionescu might have conjured up the women proceed to fight, laugh, get drunk, talk over the top of each other, throw bread rolls and share their experiences. It's reminiscent of a hen party, and I couldn't tell from it whether Churchill is pro or anti all-female gatherings. Despite their differences the women do have something in common, which only becomes clear later on. Without this first scene the play would be good; with it it's great. It serves to both set a context, and loosen the play from it - the female experience of success and what you have to sacrifice to achieve it is not a phenomenon of the 1980s alone.
In the rest of the play we get to know Marlene better, meeting her sister Joyce and young Angie. Angie is Marlene's counterpoint, someone who is not benefitting from the Me, Now, Capitalist culture. Marlene's having a great time taking care of Number 1, but if everyone did that who would look after those who can't fight for themselves?
This play is not without its laughs, but the high excitement of the posh party is punctured as the hangover sets in, and a plaintive question pushes through the cracks - is this really how we want the world to be? This is thought-provoking entertainment, and a good alternative to The Iron Lady if you want to reflect on society in the 80s.
There are several other amazing things about the play. Its cast is entirely female, and that's rare. 7 actresses portray 16 different characters, and almost as many accents, from wildly varying centuries. Acts II and III follow a fairly normal storyline, but they are preceded by a dinner party for famous women through the ages. This surreal scene brings together a Japanese courtesan and Buddhist nun from the 13th Century, a Victorian traveller, characters from legend and paintings, and a Pope Joan. They've come to celebrate Marlene's promotion to MD of Top Girls Recruitment Agency.
In a scene Ionescu might have conjured up the women proceed to fight, laugh, get drunk, talk over the top of each other, throw bread rolls and share their experiences. It's reminiscent of a hen party, and I couldn't tell from it whether Churchill is pro or anti all-female gatherings. Despite their differences the women do have something in common, which only becomes clear later on. Without this first scene the play would be good; with it it's great. It serves to both set a context, and loosen the play from it - the female experience of success and what you have to sacrifice to achieve it is not a phenomenon of the 1980s alone.
In the rest of the play we get to know Marlene better, meeting her sister Joyce and young Angie. Angie is Marlene's counterpoint, someone who is not benefitting from the Me, Now, Capitalist culture. Marlene's having a great time taking care of Number 1, but if everyone did that who would look after those who can't fight for themselves?
This play is not without its laughs, but the high excitement of the posh party is punctured as the hangover sets in, and a plaintive question pushes through the cracks - is this really how we want the world to be? This is thought-provoking entertainment, and a good alternative to The Iron Lady if you want to reflect on society in the 80s.