Stunning Top Girls at Raven Theatre

Caryl Churchill’s non linear 1982 feminist play Top Girls was a remarkable commentary on

women’ s success (or failure) when it first premiered.  It spoke to the prickly rise of Margaret Thatcher. As we enter an era where the patriarchy is trying to stuff the genie of women’s roles back in the subservient bottle, the play is no less relevant or complicated.  The current production at Raven Theatre will leave its mark on you.  

The plot centers on Marlene, a tough ambitious business woman played with retro period authenticity by Claire Kaplan.  The show begins in a fancy restaurant where Marlene is celebrating her promotion with a group of women from history ranging from Isabella Bird played by Susaan Jamshidi (who will also play Marlene’s long suffering sister Joyce in the final act) to Pope Joan  ( the very funny Morgan Lavenstein) to the nearly mute Flemish folkloric character Dull Gret played by Yourtana Sulaiman( who will also play the niece/daughter Angie later in the play) This dinner party devolves into a drunken girls night out but its clear these women have been through some stuff as a result of them challenging a man’s world. 

Later we will meet Angie, Marlene's slow witted niece who wants to be just like her, and we will  see Marlene and her coworkers at the employment agency Top Girls interviewing various women and deciding if they are a product they can sell to the man's world.  Some of the women have very unrealistic visions of their career opportunities and what they are allowed to aspire to.  Marlene is pragmatic and maybe not so likeable, and this is an era on the verge of more opportunities for women so she is barreling through.  

We will come discover a great deal of uncomfortable realities in Marlene’s past and the sacrifices women make no matter what they choose. Director Lucky Stiff has chosen to make this an detailed 1980’s vision with Anna Wooden’s shoulder pad period costuming and Dee Etti-Williams genius sound design along with the Sony Walkman and other props by Paloma Locsin. For some of us that survived that era it's like looking at our own history, but this play proves that the more things change the more viciously the status quo of centuries of patriarchy tries to revert us.  

Churchill’s play raises more questions than it answers and that is the stuff of really good theatre.  Top Girls is playing Thursdays through Sundays through March 22, 2026 at Raven Theatre., 6157 N Clark Street, in Chicago. For tickets and information go to https://www.raventheatre.com/stage/topgirls/

Photo by Joe Mazza

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