Top Girls

Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls opens with a fantastical dinner in which five infamous women from history — including ninth century Pope Joan, Canterbury Tales’ obedient wife Patient Griselda and Victorian-era world traveler Isabella Bird — come together in celebration of Marlene, a London career woman who has just been promoted at the Top Girls employment agency. The women’s drunken revelry reveals their shared experiences, and reflects the present-day issues facing Marlene — whose success has come at a hefty price.