The Script Society Reads "Top Girls" by Caryl Churchill

The Script Society is our limited-series collaborative play reading group led by Roxanne Baker. Let's use the hazy, lazy days of summer to enjoy drama without the anxiety of memorizing lines or donning costumes! Choose a Reader ticket if you'd like an assigned role and the chance to participate in the reading, or a Listener ticket if you'd prefer to sit back, follow along, and enjoy the performance unfolding around you. No experience required; all you need is curiosity, enthusiasm, and a love of great storytelling.

This session's pick is Caryl Churchill's Top Girls—winner of the 1983 Obie Award and widely considered one of the defining plays of contemporary theatre. Sharp, funny, ambitious, and formally daring, Top Girls begins with one of the most famous dinner parties in modern drama before unfolding into a complex exploration of ambition, feminism, class, work, sacrifice, and the costs of "having it all." Churchill's dazzling dialogue and inventive structure make this an especially rewarding play to experience aloud together.

We will meet in person in the loft at our store at The Mark, 117 S. Pineapple Ave. The book club is $18.95, which is the cost of your copy of Top Girls to be picked up at Bookstore1 any time before our meeting. If you have any questions, please email roxanne@sarasotabooks.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Caryl Churchill is one of the most influential playwrights of the last fifty years, known for her inventive structures, razor-sharp political insight, and groundbreaking approach to language and performance. Her acclaimed plays include Top Girls, Cloud Nine, Serious Money, Far Away, and Love and Information. Churchill’s work has earned Obie Awards, Olivier Awards, and international recognition for continually reshaping what contemporary theater can do.

ABOUT THE FACILITATOR:

Roxanne Baker hails from the mecca of film, Rochester, NY, where she introduced films at the George Eastman House. Since she arrived in Florida, she has moderated film talk-backs at Burns Court and taught Film Appreciation at Sarasota Art Museum through Osher Life Long Learning.