1. TOP GIRLS -CARYL CHURCHILL

2. Marlene assembles historical women to recount to one another their travels, intellectual accomplishments, and love affairs that have made them "top girls".
First, they share their extraordinary achievements. However, the talk of the table changes to reveal instances of suffering and loss by each of these women.
Isabella:
Her travels prevented her from forming close relationships and short periods of agony when she returns home between her travels.
Nijo:
She gave up three of her children by lovers other than the Emperor’s, and was denied the privilege of seeing her father on his death bed.
Gret:
Lost children in a murderous invading army.
Pope Joan:
She had pretended to be a man so long, she didn't recognize what it felt like to be a woman. She was stoned to death when she had an accidental public childbirth.
Griselda :
She was forced to prove her loyalty to her husband by allowing her children killed (or so she thought), and renouncing all the privileges of her position.
Marlene:
Until the last scene, Marlene is represented as a "top girl", displaying the achievements she has made in her career, the power she has, and the idol position she has to Angie. In the last scene, however, it is revealed that Marlene is the mother of Angie, having chosen to give her up, and has had two abortions.

3. Author background and influences
Caryl Lesley Churchill is a British playwright whose work has been associated with surrealist and postmodern theatre.
She was born in London on September 3, Her family moved to Montreal after World War II
In 1957, Churchill moved back to England to attend Oxford University, where she earned a B.A. in English Literature in 1960.
During her time at Oxford, Churchill wrote four plays – Downstairs, You’ve No Need to be Frightened, Having a Wonderful Time, and Easy Death

4. Context
In the early 1980s, Great Britain was ruled by women. Though Queen Elizabeth II was only a royal figurehead, real political power was held by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. A member of the Conservative Party
Thatcher had been elected on May 3, 1979
She was reelected in 1983 and 1987, and held office until late 1990
Thatcher had been the longest serving prime minister in Great Britain since the nineteenth century.
To improve the British economy, Thatcher dismantled the socialist practices that were put in place in the post-World War II era. She privatized major industries, like coal mining and telecommunications, which had been run by the British government, and she cut down on the power of trade unions