Top Girl

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This is a harrowing story of how failure by the school, the police and social services drives people further into the abusive dangerous lives they have become involved with. It shows how protection and safety seem more guaranteed with a gang than with the organisations that are supposed to help you. In the end Danielle is helped to leave but even then it only works because she has the intelligence to see that the agencies task to help her are only going to do a half arsed job and she must rely on the skills she has to get herself all the way there. Manipulated and groomed at the age of twelve Danielle is soon drawn into the seedy underworld of drugs. a b Benedict, David (23 September 1998). "Theatre: And now for the drama of the century". The Independent . Retrieved 15 October 2020.

a b "50 Greatest Plays of the Past 100 Years". Entertainment Weekly. 12 July 2013 . Retrieved 15 October 2020.Top Girls is a 1982 play by Caryl Churchill. It centres on Marlene, a career-driven woman who is heavily invested in women's success in business. The play examines the roles available to women in old society, and what it means or takes for a woman to succeed. It also dwells heavily on the cost of ambition and the influence of Thatcherite politics on feminism. Joyce’s sixteen-year-old adoptive daughter Angie is odd, quiet, and stunted. She is a lonely girl, whose only friend, Kit, is four years younger than her. Angie expresses a keen desire to kill her…

Maxwell, Dominic (14 April 2018). "The greatest plays of all time". The Times . Retrieved 17 October 2022. There is also commentary on Margaret Thatcher, then prime minister, who celebrated personal achievement and believed in free-market capitalism ( Thatcherism). Marlene, the tough career woman, is portrayed as soulless, exploiting other women and suppressing her own caring side in the cause of success. The play argues against the style of feminism that simply turns women into new patriarchs and argues for a feminism in which caring for the weak and downtrodden is more prominent. The play questions whether it is possible for women in society to combine a successful career with a thriving family life. In 2021, a Portuguese version of the play was directed by Cristina Carvalhal and presented in Queen Maria II National Theatre, in Lisbon. [ citation needed]All Of my fave books are on it and i have now read a heap of new ones that i have found on this list!!! After the break, Nell is interviewing Shona, who claims to be twenty-nine and working at her current sales job for four years. Nell, impressed, suggests that Shona might a good employee for the Top Girls employment agency. Nell then presses Shona a bit on her current job and personal life, collecting details to present to potential employers. Shona delivers a far-fetched story about driving a company Porsche and staying in hotels on the company’s expense account. Nell realizes that Shona is lying and calls the interview a "waste of time". Shona finally admits that she is only twenty-one and has no experience. It’s a really hard hitting book which I struggled to put down. It’s graphic in places so not for the squeamish! It was so sad to read about her journey and how often she was failed by the services meant to protect her. However, it was also enlightening and she spoke of her personal choice to be working in a gang dealing in drugs and there had actually been some fond memories for her which I found so interesting. Shona’s interview with Nell starts off well, but eventually collapses when Nell realizes that Shona’s eagerness and toughness are a façade, and that she has fabricated her entire resume. At first, Nell finds Shona’s individuality and spunk appealing, even suggesting she might be able to work for Top Girls. However, Shona’s ridiculous story of driving a Porsche around the country and staying at luxurious hotels on the company’s expense account reveal she knows nothing about the day-to-day life of professionals. Shona represents another female archetype, just like the other women who come to Top Girls for interviews. She does not have a grasp on reality, nor does she understand that she will have to work very hard to achieve the kind of life she dreams about. She is clearly sheltered and clueless - the antithesis of Nell and the other "tough birds" who work at Top Girls. Nell's dismissal of Shona, however, shows how Marlene and her coworkers are highly individualistic and unwilling to help a misguided young girl - because helping her would not do anything to advance their own careers. Sierz, Aleks (3 April 2019). "TOP GIRLS, NATIONAL THEATRE". Aleks Sierz . Retrieved 15 October 2020.

Top Girl is relatable for all readers, of all ages, with its modern and relevant tone it will appeal to YA readers, as well as those who love true crime reads. I can not praise this enough, and the awareness that Danielle brings, is not only extremely courageous, it is also very admirable.In her interview with Win, Louise expresses frustration over the unfair sacrifices she has had to make and the double standards that she has endured to stay in good standing at her company for over 2 decades. The character of Louise represents hidden patriarchal structures that modern women still face in the workplace. Although Louise has the same human and spiritual rights as her male counterparts (unlike Joan or Nijo), she is highly aware that society views her as inferior to the men around her. Instead of accepting it, though, she is finally ready to do something about it, even though Win reminds her how difficult it will be for an older woman to get a new job. Louise is a contrast to Marlene - and shows that even though the feminist movement had made significant advances by the 1970s, gender equality was still a long way off.

In Act Two, Scene Two, the action turns to the "Top Girls" employment agency, where Nell and Win are sharing the latest office gossip, until Marlene arrives. They then express their congratulations to Marlene for getting the top job.

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Dorney, Kate; Gray, Frances (14 February 2013). "1980-1989". Played in Britain: Modern Theatre in 100 Plays. Great Britain: Methuen Drama. pp.116–117. ISBN 9781408164808. Of the dinner guests, Bird seems to have the most in common with Marlene. Bird, like Marlene, did not marry young because of her career, but later married John Bishop, who died two days before their fifth anniversary. She refers to him as "my dear husband the doctor" but, despite her love for her husband, is still disappointed with marriage itself ("I did wish marriage had seemed more of a step"). Bird gets the last words in act 1 and continues to discuss her final travels to Morocco. This is the true-life account of Danielle Marin, "a smart grammar school student turned county line drug dealer." Marlene says this after hearing about the struggles that her female guests have experienced in their lives. She finds their stories of patriarchal oppression unbearable, and wonders if these women recognized the injustice as they lived it, the way Marlene has always struggled against societal gender roles in 1970s England. Marlene's anger, meanwhile, fuels her determination to get away from her blue-collar roots and aspire to financial independence. Marlene's abject refusal to let her gender get in the way of her success emerges many times over the course of the play. She leaves behind her daughter, thus throwing off the vestiges of motherhood, and behaves condescendingly towards women who do not want to devote their lives to overthrowing the patriarchy. The final chapter though, made me cry. Danielle does care, even though she doesn’t show it. She has turned her life around, and that’s what counts. It would have been so easy for her to carry on with the life she had: dealing drugs, and living the expensive lifestyle she craved.