Top Girls at Otterbein University

Marlene has been promoted to managing director of a London employment agency and is celebrating by holding a fanciful dinner party attended by historical figures, all women, who struggled to break the bonds of societal expectations. Among them are Isabella Bird, 19th century English author who travelled the world alone, and Dull Gret, the subject of a 16th century painting by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, who, fully armed, leads a mob of women into Hell to fight the Devil. The play goes on to portray the lives of Marlene, who left home to make it in the big city, and her sister Joyce, who stayed home. Written by English playwright Caryl Churchill in 1982, Top Girls is a sharp-witted, imaginative, and profound examination of the choices women continue to face.

Authors

• Caryl Churchill