What does it mean to be a successful woman? Top Girls, an upcoming production of British playwright Caryl Churchill’s 1982 Obie Award-winning play at Birmingham-Southern College, seeks to answer that question.

Set in the 1980s in the United Kingdom, the play attempts to answer the question: What does it take to make it as a “top girl” in a male-dominated world? It carries the audience on a journey with Marlene, a career-obsessed manager who has finally landed her dream job in a London employment agency. In an artful blend of fantasy and reality, Marlene’s only friends are dynamic women from the past. She has cut off all other ties in her effort to fly as far away as possible from her working-class roots.

“The play, in two acts, raises big questions about gender roles, how women navigate a patriarchal system, and the challenges that current gender assumptions present to men, women, and children,” said BSC Professor of Theatre Dr. Alan Litsey, who is directing the play.

The all-female cast jumps in and out of two centuries; actors play multiple roles. In the play’s famous opening, Marlene invites an eclectic mix of historical and fictional figures to dinner to help her celebrate a promotion at work. The attendees include Patient Griselda from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales; Pope Joan, a Medieval religious leader; Victorian traveler Isabella Bird; and Dull Gret, the heroic warrior from Bruegel’s painting. Come find out what Marlene gains and loses in her journey to prove herself.