USC School of Dramatic Arts
Top Girls
written by Caryl Churchill; Directed by Larissa Kokernot
All tickets by phone or online - $12.00
General Public (In person at USC Ticket Office) - $10.00
Faculty and Staff (In person at USC Ticket Office) - $8.00
Students (In person at USC Ticket Office) - $5.00
Thursday, November 01, 2012 - 7:00 PM
Friday, November 02, 2012 - 7:00 PM
Saturday, November 03, 2012 - 2:30 PM
Saturday, November 03, 2012 - 8:00 PM
Sunday, November 04, 2012 - 2:30 PM
Set in early 1980s Britain when Margaret Thatcher, a grocer's daughter, had just become the first woman Prime Minister of the UK, Top Girls examines the role of women in society and what being a successful woman means as told by an eclectic group of historical and modern characters in a continuous conversation across ages and generations.
The play famously begins with a dreamlike opening sequence when a career-driven woman hosts a dinner party in a London restaurant to celebrate her promotion to managing director of the 'Top Girls' employment agency. Her guests are five women from the past: Isabella Bird (1831-1904) - the adventurous traveler; Lady Nijo (born 1258) - the medieval courtesan who became a Buddhist nun and traveled on foot through Japan; Dull Gret, who as Dullie Griet in a Bruegel painting, led a crowd of women on a charge through Hell; Pope Joan - the transvestite early female pope; and last but not least, Patient Griselda, an obedient wife of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. As the evening continues, we are involved with the stories of all five women and the impending crisis in her own life.
A blistering yet sympathetic look at women who achieve success by adopting the worse traits of self-made men, Top Girls is a classic of contemporary theatre and is seen as a landmark for a new generation of playwrights.
Produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
