Churchill's "Top Girls" Soars at Antaeus

     If you are interested in a play about working women in 1980's England look no further than the Antaeus Company’s production of  Caryl Churchill’s “Top Girls” playing at the Antaeus Theater in the NoHo Arts District through May 4th.

     It’s the early 1980's in Maggie Thatcher’s England, and anything is possible.  Take for  example Marlene, who has just been made managing director of the Top Girls Employment Agency.

     Her journey soon lands her in shifting sands when she learns the price a woman pays for keeping-up appearances, and most importantly, competing with fellow male employees.

     In this finely-tuned, traditionally double cast vehicle it is rare to see a woman show her true emotions.

     That is true until the last scene where Marlene (Rebecca Mozo) confronts Joyce (Karianne Flaathen) about supporting people who are lazy, dumb and frivolous and we, the audience, learn that Angie (Etta Devine) is actually Marlene’s daughter.

      Marlene weeps for the first time and touches on her innermost turmoil and anguish in a way only a few playwrights can show.

       The play, which on the Saturday night that this critic saw it, included the High Flyers cast, takes you back and forth in time and imagination.  The first scene being a grand example.

       The writing is realistic and alive.  It ignores not a fleeting moment and embraces humanity’s most guarded secrets.

     Cameron Watson’s direction is crisp and tight while not getting in the way of the actors or the writing.  It adds to the action and the language because it understands and comprehends them and their vital importance to this modern classic.

     If this indeed was the first of a breed of plays about women acted only by women then this play, written in 1982, has hit the proverbial jackpot.

     For even with a first act that is sketchy at best, the London-born and three-time Obie Award-winning Churchill delivers a second act of such power, determination, and raw grit that it ranks with male contemporaries such as Edward Albee and Sam Shepard.  

     Among the actresses, stand-outs include Mozo, who shimmers like a gem in the turquoise heavens with a powerful acting style and strength that are the backbone of this play.

      Mozo’s sensitivity and compassion are also on display here, especially in the final scene.

     But it is Flaathen who steals the show with a strong yet stark style that says multitudes without speaking.

     Flaathen is a gloriously courageous actress who needs no ornate costumes to shine. She does it on her own.
         
     This critic would very much like to see her on the stages of North Hollywood and Los Angeles again very soon.

      Helping get the message of the play across are the scenic design of Stephen Gifford, the sound design of Jeff Thomas Gardner, the lighting design of Jared A. Sayeg and the costume design of Terri A. Lewis.

      All in all, “Top Girls” is an ambitious, season-opening attempt by Antaeus.  The company staged a play initiated by its actors.

     That reflects a change or shift on Lankershim Boulevard toward more experimental and new work by playwrights who are not household names, but quickly getting there.

     This is, in the end, a brave step forward that should, from the audience reaction on the night this critic saw the play, make this theatre company that much more in tune with younger and more progressive theatregoers.       

DATES AND TIMES:
Thursdays and Fridays at 8pm
Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm
Sundays at 2pm
TICKETS:
Thursdays and Fridays: $30
Saturdays and Sundays: $34
INFORMATION/ADMISSION:
(818) 506-1983
WHERE:
Antaeus Theater
5112 Lankershim Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91601
PARKING:
$7 in the lot at 5125 Lankershim Blvd. (west side of the street), just south of Magnolia