DIRECTOR'S
NOTE
Top Girls is a play that deals with a number of very difficult issues—at the heart of it, it’s asking the question of how does one choose between work and family? And, more specifically, it asks the question of how do women choose between work and family? As a period piece from Great Britain of the early 1980s, this question is heavily steeped in Thatcherite thinking and class friction, showing us a world heavily divided along lines of gender and wealth. Marlene is a woman who has rejected everything about her origins, including her family, in order to succeed in a world that is only beginning to accept the presence of women. The opening scene shows us a group of characters united by a common sense of accomplishment, but it is tinged heavily with loss. They’ve all lost family, but more than that, they’ve lost something of their own identity, their womanhood seen as a deficiency or, at best, a novelty, rather than a source of pride or strength. Top Girls explores the ramifications of that, in its effects on women, both in the workforce and the next generation.
I’m very lucky to have worked with this talented team of artists. I would like to thank them all—the actors, designers, managers, faculty, and staff, and everyone else who helped make all of this happen. Creating a performance is never easy, and even on Zoom, this has been a long trek from beginning to end. Our world is more uncertain now than it has been in some time, but that shouldn’t stop us from experiencing the thought-provoking wonder of theatre, and everyone involved with this production has risen to the challenge, working together admirably to create something beautiful.
Caryl Churchill has handed us a powerful piece of theatre; thank you for being here to help celebrate it.
-Paul Christopher
DRAMATURG'S
NOTE
Growing up, you’re always asked the question: Who is your role model? I personally was always surrounded by strong, inspiring, and passionate women; women who seemingly had it all. I’d always jump between choosing my favorite actress, singer, or character at the time. I regrettably remember trying to emulate the lifestyle of Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games, featuring a brief stint of me trying to climb trees and survive in the wilderness. But when really left to reflect on this question I’m turned towards an answer many people carry. My role model is my mom.
I picture my mother in 1982, the same time as Top Girls, when she was 15 years old and got her first job. It’s exciting to think about my mom being a part of this larger movement of women in the 80s, making a move for self-empowerment. My mom also went on to go to college, get married and raise a family, much like her mother. I think of both matriarchs and can’t help but compare them to the women in Top Girls.
Top Girls is a story all about women and the power and sacrifices they need to make to succeed, whether it be in career, homelife, love, or self. Through the lens of Margaret Thatcher’s power in the United Kingdom (which ran concurrently with Reagan’s presidency here in the US), Caryl Churchill explores all facets of the female experience in early 1980s Britain. With the gaining popularity of the second wave feminist movement, creating an empowered fleet of women ready to join the workforce as the backdrop of our story, we see the dichotomy between Marlene and her sister Joyce. Marlene choosing the career route, and leaving Joyce, who has chosen the homemaker route, in the dust. Seeing these two women sacrifice part of their lives to achieve what they want makes me realize just how hard it was to have it all, and it makes me proud to come from a line of strong women who prove to me that with hard work and determination, we can achieve whatever we strive for.
-Hayley Brenner