Keegan Theatre Opens Caryl Churchill's TOP GIRLS Next Week

The Keegan Theatre presents Caryl Churchill's Obie Award-winning play TOP GIRLS, opening on November 4, 2017 In Washington, DC. Churchill's TOP GIRLS, a seminal play of the modern theatre, reveals a world of women's experience at a pivotal moment in British history, the beginning of the Thatcher years. A contemporary examination of a woman's role in society, TOP GIRLS tells the story of a career-driven woman and the sacrifices she makes for her achievements, bringing the definition of success into question. The work features Churchill's famous dinner party scene, in which the play's protagonist Marlene hosts five women from different historical periods (some historical figures, some fictional) for a celebratory gathering. The feminist themes introduced by this cacophonous scene echo throughout the more contemporary action of the play, highlighting the compromises and triumphs each remarkable woman experienced in her journey to self-discovery in a male-dominated world.

TOP GIRLS features an all-female cast of Caroline Dubberly, Amanda Forstrom, Karina Hilleard, Jessica Lefkow, Alexandra Maria Palting, Daven Ralston and Susan Marie Rhea. DC-based theatre director and film-maker Amber Paige McGinnis directs. Praised for her "artful direction" and "intense and visually striking" productions (The Washington Post), McGinnis's credits include many successful productions at theaters throughout the region, including film credits from The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

"It's a bit sobering that 35 years after the premiere, the crisis and conflict for the women in TOP GIRLS still feels so timely," McGinnis says. "It's a true testament to the potency of Churchill's work: her unapologetic, biting humor and off-the-wall structure challenge all of us to consider how far we've come, and how far we have yet to go." Keegan artistic director Susan Marie Rhea agrees. "TOP GIRLS is a particularly compelling work for Keegan to produce at this moment, in this socio-political climate," Rhea explains. "In addition to being a moving and funny piece of theater that investigates the sacrifices women make and why we are called upon to make them, TOP GIRLS addresses sensitive issues of class and economic status - the context of our protagonist's feminist journey, and how it informs her. In many ways, TOP GIRLS will inevitably call to mind both the great strides and devastating setbacks in women's rights that have occurred since the play's premiere, as well as the socio-economic realities many face in today's changing world."

TOP GIRLS runs November 4, 2017, through December 2, 2017, at The Keegan Theatre in Washington, DC. The press opening is Tuesday, November 7, 2017. This is Keegan Theatre's 21st season performing in Washington, DC. The Keegan Theatre produces powerful productions of classic and modern plays and musicals, offered to the community at affordable prices. Our work is fueled by extraordinary artists in an intimate venue, scripts that put real people out there on the stark edges of life, and an approach to the work that honors clear and authentic storytelling.

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