And does so by having a first act that radically breaks dramatic convention.
If it is possible to tell a person’s nature from the historical figures she invites to a restaurant dinner party, then Marlene (Suranne Jones) has a tendency to mix with successful women. There is Isabel Bird (Stella Gonet), a Victorian explorer, Lady Nijo (Catherine McCormack), a Japanese concubine and later Buddhist monk, Pope Joan (Lucy Briers), who might or might not have existed, Dull Gret (Olivia Poulet), a mythical figure who invades hell looking for revenge, and Patient Griselda (Laura Elphinstone), a character from The Canterbury Tales who seems at odds with the others in that she is pliant in her acceptance of her husband’s need for obedience. It is a first act, then, which has the characters mostly sitting down, drinking and eating, and which requires each to tell their own story.
Churchill overcomes this by having the exposition reveal something of their personality. Thus Bird can appear boastful, Nijo argumentative and Pope Joan aloof. The wonderfully designed costumes further reveal the era they are from. There is one individual continuously on her feet and that is the waitress, who is treated haughtily by Marlene. This is the indicator of who Marlene really is.
When, at the end of Act Two, Marlene says that her niece is “not going to make it”, we get to the central question: what is going to happen to Angie, a slow-learning 15-year-old? Marlene says this to her colleagues at the Top Girls employment agency, who find work for (and make commission from) their female clients. Angie will never be found a job.
Yet there is consideration for Marlene also. She is described as a “ball-breaker” by Mrs Kidd, who pleads with her to forgo promotion in order that her own husband can have the position. The 1980s were a time when senior career opportunities were opening up for women, epitomised by Thatcher, yet if women took those senior roles they were accused of emasculating men.
In a cast of seven, everyone but Suranne Jones has more than one role. Not only is this done brilliantly and amusingly by an all-strong ensemble, but it also makes reference to the numerous roles women are expected to fulfil as well as the adaptability required of a workforce in an economy where trade unions are denigrated.
If Act One is the surreal dinner-party and Act Two contrasts the slow action in Angie’s back garden with fast-paced office life, then Act Three is the political debate between Marlene, who believes the ’80s will be great, versus her sister, who has never left her rural roots and who has cared for their parents. While you may agree with the sister – and seem surprised by her depth of political analysis – she is not as sympathetic now as I suspect she would once have been seen. I was also struck by how Marlene’s life could be so much better if she just did the right thing. Not because the right thing is what you should do but because you feel better as a result. That’s a kind of selfishness.
