Top Girls

★★★★ I am one of those who enjoys an English comedy, so viewing Remy Bumppo’s latest production, “Top Girls” is two hours-thirty-five minutes of fun and games. For those of you unused to three act plays, this may be more of an event than a theatrical experience. Others will find it a sharp play written by Caryl Churchill and sharply directed by Keira Fromm that looks at women in business as well as family.

Act one opens in a restaurant on a Saturday night. Marlene ( played to perfection by Linda Gillum) is the “hostess with the mostess” for this wild and wooly evening. Each of the ladies that joins her for this special meal has her own story and as the act/dinner rolls on we learn a great deal about Marlene herself. By the way, she is the only character that is in all three acts. It is a wild dinner and well choreographed/directed by Fromm along with movement and intimacy designer Kristina Fluty. Before I get into the rest of the production, I must let you know about the tech aspects of this show. The set is amazing (CourtneyO’Neill) and watching the three tech crew members make the changes is a fun experience. In particular during the second intermission. In fact, I suggest you stay in the theater during this conversion from business office to apartment. It is very special and deserved the applause we gave it on opening night. Amanda Herrmann’s props are also amazing and numerous. Wow, what a job! The sound by Sarah D. Espinoza and the lighting by Becca Jeffords added the special touches and the costumes, which were is some cases truly “out there” were designed by Raquel Adorno and Meeka Postman. The stage manager, Mara Sagal, ensures that all the puzzle pieces fit in perfect order and she does this with just the right touch. These people do not get the mentions often enough! If I were to rate the tech it would be ★★★★★.

Now back to the cast. A powerful cast of ladies. Annabel Armour, Rebecca Hurd, Karissa Murrell Myers, Aurora Real de Asua, Amber Sallis, Rebecca Spence, and Vahishta Vafadari are the ladies that join Ms Gillum in bringing this story to life.

Marlene is a powerhouse business woman with no family. In fact, she truly has little time for anything but her business meetings. She has a sister and a niece. The niece, Angie (this is played by Ms Real de Asua) worships the ground Marlene walks on and even goes to her office on her own to visit and see more of her ( this is in the second act). As this becomes the major part of the plot at this point, I will stop getting deeper as it is major and these are things that you need to learn as the play progresses. The play is witty and despite it being longer than most modern plays, will hold your interest from start to finish.

“Top Girls” will continue at Theater Wit located at 1229 West Belmont thru February 22nd with performances as follows:

Wednesdays  7:30 p.m.

Thursdays  7:30 p.m.

Fridays  7:30 p.m.

Saturdays  7:30 p.m.

Sundays  2:30 p.m.

Tickets range from $37.75

students at $15 (day of)

Special matinees” Saturday 1/25 2:30 p.m., Saturday 2/5, Saturday 2/8, Thursday 2/13 at 2:30 p.m., Thursday 2/20 at 2:30 p.m. and Saturday 2/22 at 2:30 p.m.

Audio description/touch-tour on 1/25 ( start at 1 p.m.)

Open caption, Saturday 2/2

To order tickets, call 773-975-8150 or visit www.remybumppo.org

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Top Girls”.