008411
fri. • feb. 4th eclectic open
9pm-midnight music * poetry ► performance art * theatre
Sign-up to perform at The Break (located next to The Buzz)
For more info call Melanie at 346-3725
sat.* feb. 5th
9:30-11:30pm
peter wilde
acoustic folk
mon.*feb. 7th
nicole barrett
9:30-11.30pm acoustic
thu. • feb. 3rd f0m patterson • 9-10pm
^'^Pm • acoustic rock
lost theory. 10-11 pm
groove rock
tue • feb. 8th university jazz combo
8-10pm
all events are FREE
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Courtesy of University Theatre
Marlene (Bekki Barnhart, center) and Dull Gret (Rachel Aanestad, right) react to a story told by Pope Joan (Yasmin Ravard).
Top Girls traverses many
dimensions of womanhood
■ Women and their ypward
mobility processes are focus
of new UT play, Top Girls’
■ STAGE
Top Girls
A University Theatre play written by Caryl
Churchill, directed by Beth Cherne.
★★★★☆
By Yael Menahem
Oregon Daily Emerald
Can women have it all?
Then again, what is “all,” and
by whose definition do we de
cide what “all” is for a woman?
Furthermore, will women be
happy once they have it “all”?
The University Theatre’s pro
duction of Caryl Churchill’s “Top
Girls,” which opened Jan. 28 at
Robinson Theater, poses these
questions and also offers answers
in a multi-layered, complicated
performance. Even the actors
work within this complex struc
ture, with nearly the entire cast
taking on multiple roles.
The mood of the play is set as
audience members enter the the
ater. Written on pink paper,
quotes by feminist and co-founder
of Ms. Magazine Gloria Steinem
dot the doors and walls. In them,
Steinem observes the privileges
that society bestows upon men
simply because of their gender
and how historically this has
worked against women, who were
just as worthy of recognition.
In the opening act, Marlene
(Bekki Barnhart), who has just re
ceived a promotion in her com
pany, invites five fictitious and
real historical female characters
to join in a celebration. As the
group sits down to dinner, a con
versation ensues between two
characters — Isabella (Minnie
Goode) and Lady Nijo (Kim Har
mon), the former a European
traveler and the latter a mistress
to the Japanese emperor.
The two women adhere to the
common stereotype that women
are competitive and always try
ing to outdo each other. They
purposely talk over each other’s
sentences, eager to show whose
life was better and whose travels
were more exotic.
As the dinner continues, the
two are joined by Pope Joan (Yas
min Ravard), a fictitious pope
from the ninth century. She re
veals to the other women that she
once lived like a man to become
a clergyman, while having lovers
and even bearing a child, for
which she was killed.
By meal’s end, it’s revealed
that all of the dinner guests, with
the exception of Isabella and
Marlene, have had children and
gave them up at the demands of
the men in their lives. Initially
they accept what they did, but by
the end of the scene, many of the
women break down at the sacri
fices that they were forced to
make.
As the play progresses, we see
Marlene at the office where she
interviews women who are look
ing for better jobs. Issues of age
and experience surface during
the process and these factors
work against the job candidates.
Questions of marriage and chil
dren also arise as having children
leads to maternity leave: How
can a woman progress at her job
if she has to be absent to raise a
family?
Again, it’s a double bind for
these women who want to have a
career but are also expected by
society to marry and have chil
dren.
In the second act the audience
is introduced to Angie (Rachel
Aanestad), Marlene’s biological
daughter, who was raised as her
niece. Angie doesn’t get along
with her Aunt Louise (Ravard) —
Marlene’s sister whom she
knows as her mother — and Ang
ie longs to be with Marlene in the
city. Angie isn’t considered a
smart girl by Marlene’s stan
dards, yet she eventually figures
out that Marlene is her real moth
er.
Many conflicts arise during
the play, primarily when Mar
lene returns home to visit Angie
and Louise. The two fight bitter
ly because Marlene left Angie be
hind when she pursued a career
and a better life for herself.
Louise, on the other hand, stayed
home and is resentful about the
life that she has led and for hav
ing to raise Angie.
Could she have been as suc
cessful as her sister, she asks.
She’ll never know, but she lives
with that question in her head.
At the same time, Marlene’s hap
piness is in doubt due to person
al sacrifices she made for her pro
motion.
Between acts one and two, cer
tain characters are dressed on
stage, an interesting scene be
cause the actors stand still like
mannequins while the tailor
helps them into their costumes.
As they stare emptily into space,
the actors’ legs and arms are
moved with no resistance.
These moments are significant
because they show that through
out history women weren’t al
lowed to lead their lives in the
manner they wanted. Choices
were made for them and they
have stood still and watched as
their lives pass.
Marlene is never dressed on
stage, however, and the control
that she has over her life is appar
ent. Although she refuses to wear
pants to work, she does wear a tie
and jacket with a mini-skirt and
heels.
“Top Girls” is a complicated
play that has more than one in
terpretation and a multitude of
issues at hand. The story chal
lenges women’s changing roles
in society and doesn’t conclude
that choosing one life over the
other is better.
If anything, through the com
plex script, it questions women’s
expected roles and their now vis
ible roles in society. The play is
recommended for women — and
men — who are in search of an
swers and more questions.
“Top Girls” continues tonight
at 8 p.m. and has subsequent
evening performances Feb. 4, 5,
11 and 12. There is a Sunday
matinee Feb. 6; proceeds from
that show will benefit the Com
munity Alliance for Lane Coun
ty. Ticket^are $10 for the general
public, $8 for University staff and
$5 for students. A $1 discount is
available to students for Thurs
day shows.