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Top girls play significance2/6/2024 ![]() I’ve always felt that this extraordinary first act is an island, and when we return to the mainland, fixed very much in early 1980s reality, I long to return and find out more about the historical women. ![]() Liv Hill (Angie) and Ashna Rabheru (Kit) in Top Girls. ![]() In particular, Ashley McGuire is a superb Dull Gret, monosyllabic until her speech describing her battle in Hell, and Amanda Lawrence as Pope Joan, who was torn to pieces by an angry crowd when she gave birth during a parade, her secret tragically revealed. As the wine and brandy flow, each woman reveals the losses and sacrifices they made, and Lyndsey Turner’s beautifully acted production opens superbly with his act that lays the foundations for the whole play. She has brought together Isabella Bird, a 19 th century explorer, writer, photographer and naturalist, Lady Nijo, Japanese concubine to the Emperor, Dull Gret, famed as the subject of a painting by Bruegal, Pope Joan, who, according to legend, reigned as Pope for a few years during the middle ages, and Patient Griselda, a character from medieval and renaissance Europe, noted for her enduring patience and obedience. Whoever is on your fantasy dinner party list, it won’t be any of Marlene’s choices. Marlene is hosting a dinner party to celebrate her promotion at Top Girls employment agency. First staged in 1982, Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls is one of those plays, with its incredible first act standing as a supreme example of writing that is intelligent, audacious and original, an inspiration to any writer. There are few plays that truly become “landmark” texts and productions. Last Updated on 4th April 2019 Paul T Davies reviews Caryl Churchill’s play Top Girls now playing at the National Theatre.
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