EN107, Term 2 Week 3 Caryl Churchill, Top Girls

Today’s class Second essay Top Girls (1982) Student presentation Context: 1982 Discussion

Date: 1982 Context as question: how does Top Girls look back at issues we’ve seen before?

Date: 1982 Thatcherism and the 1980s Still in a sense dominant economic, cultural paradigm Neoliberalism: new understanding of “freedom” In: economic, military Out: social In effect: focus away from regions, towards capital

New card: Doubling Very specific feature of plays: same actor assigned to different parts Partially function of utility… …yet contrasts often implied What can we make of the doubling in Top Girls ? (pg. 2)

New card: America How does this play, if at all, reference America? Favorable/superior Negatively

Ensemble Why are these characters together? What characters are on stage at any given moment? Who understands other characters’ dialogue, and who fails to? Are there multiple overlapping worlds onstage? Characters in multiple times, places, settings What juxtapositions are created?

Plot (revised) Does the play possess a consistent plot? Is this plot fulfilled? Sequence Sequential Non-sequential Sequence unclear What part of the play’s plot occurs onstage? What part takes place offstage? Why does the play choose this particular part of the plot—why significant?

Gender Does the play specify gender for its characters? How are the play’s characters divided by gender? Are the opportunities for performance divided by gender? How, if at all, is the audience addressed in regards to gender? How does gender intersect with class?

Class Does the play assign class to the characters? (If not: significant?) To what social classes do the various characters belong, and how are these expressed? Speech Embodiment Action Attention of play How, if at all, is the audience addressed in regards to class? How does class intersect with gender?