Top Girls – Act One

1. Top Girls – Act One Starter – Discuss with the person sitting next to you the definition of the term: Magical Realism Key Word: Magical Realism: It indicates a combination of magical and realistic elements in literature Professor Matthew Stretcher: ‘What happens when a highlight detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something too strange to believe.’ How does the use of this create comedy?

2. Can you begin to find any common threads in the descriptions of the historical characters in the play? The women have several things in common but fundamentally they are all coping with either giving up or losing children. Top Girls begins with a fantasy dinner party to which Marlene invites an eclectic array of woman from history, legend, art and literature. Each is in her own way, a top girl. Who are some other top girls from the 1980s, 1990s and today? What makes them top girls?

3. Why do you think Caryl Churchill may have chosen these characters as opposed to more well-known women?  Which characters do you already like/dislike? Why? What do you imagine is the function of the first scene?

4. How does Caryl Churchill introduce comedy into the play through the first Act? Think about: -) Her characterisation. How different is Marlene to the ‘fantasy’ characters? -) The topic of conversation (for example - the gender confusion that occurs in the conversation) -) Emphasis on dialogue -) Use of magical realism

5. Task: You are now going to write TWO paragraphs in response to the question: How does Caryl Churchill introduce comedy into the play through the first Act? Think about: -) Her characterisation. How different is Marlene to the ‘fantasy’ characters? -) The topic of conversation (for example - the gender confusion that occurs in the conversation) -) Emphasis on dialogue -) Use of magical realism

6. Top Girls – Act Two Joyce’s back yard. The house with back door is upstage. Downstage a shelter made of junk, made by children. Two girls, Angie and Kit, are in it, squashed together. Angie is sixteen, Kit is twelve. They cannot be seen from the house. Joyce calls from the house. Starter: You have 5 minutes to sketch the stage, labelling the characters and any props. Learning Objective – to explore the opening of Act 2.

7. Before we begin reading … how do you imagine a 16 and 12 year old would speak? What do you imagine they would speak about? What do we learn about Angie and Kit? Is there any comic elements to their speech?

8. Joyce comes out and comes up to them quietly. What do we learn about Joyce? Joyce What do you think her function is?

9. How does the beginning of Act Two compare to Act One?