The Sydney Theatre Company is kicking off their 2018 season with the Caryl Churchill classic Top Girls, and will be hitting the stage from 12 February to 24 March. The production is directed by STC Resident Director Imara Savage with an extraordinary all-female ensemble including Helen Thomson, Kate Box, Michelle Lim Davidson, Paula Arundell and Heather Mitchell.
Written in London in 1982, the year the phrase ‘having it all’ was coined, Top Girls explores the balance of career and motherhood, and asks big questions around power, ambition, family and responsibility – questions we’re still asking today.
Helen Thomson, who plays Marlene said the issues raised in Top Girls are as relevant now as they were in the 80’s.
“What’s so interesting is the next wave of women in today’s workforce are realising the pay gap is still there and the glass ceiling still exists”, Thomson said.
“So women are seeing that we have to work together to help each other – through movements like Lean In and #MeToo. It’s all along the same trajectory and part of the ongoing discussion of the women’s movement.”
Marlene is unstoppable. She’s been promoted to the top job at a London employment agency and it’s time to celebrate. Her dinner party with famous female figures from throughout history is one of playwright Caryl Churchill’s wittiest and best-known scenes – as heavyweight intellectual ideas are thrown around over dinner and seven bottles of Frascati.
However, Marlene’s success is soon undermined by the compromises she’s made and the past she’s left behind. Privilege comes at a cost – but she might not be the one who picks up the tab.
Key Information
What: Top Girls, theatre production
When: 16 February – 24 March 2018, In-season evening performances Mon & Tue 6.30pm; Wed – Sat 8pm
Where: Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre
Tickets: Singles for Saturday evening are $108. Other days, adult $103, senior cardholders $93. Concession $82. Under 30 $81. Group bookings (10+ people) $87. Get your tickets at www.sydneytheatre.com.au/top-girls
———-
