Top Girls by Caryl Churchill presented by Sound Theatre Company May 1, 2009

www.soundtheatrecompany.org

Sound Theatre Company presents TOP GIRLS, a compelling look at women in positions of power.

Sound Theatre Company presents Top Girls, Caryl Churchill’s groundbreaking drama about women and power in the workplace, at Stone Soup’s DownStage Theatre, May 1 – May 17 at 8pm Thursday through Saturday and 2pm on Sundays. All Thursday and Sunday performances are “Pay What You Can” (at the door only) and will include Talk-Back discussions with the artists. Presale tickets are available through www.brownpapertickets.com and seating is limited.

In Churchill’s 1982 play, the central character Marlene celebrates her recent promotion to Managing Director of the “Top Girls Employment Agency” by dining with prominent women from history and myth. Her own real story of success, however, harbors secrets and bitter sacrifices. In Top Girls, Churchill originally targeted the policies of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, yet its significance still echoes today as we examine the roots of the current global economic crisis and the feminist debates which surfaced in the 2008 election.

Top Girls, by Caryl Churchill
Sound Theatre Company
At Stone Soup’s DownStage Theatre
4035 Stone Way N.
Seattle, WA 98103
May 1 – May 17
Thu, Fri, Sat 8:00 PM, Sun 2:00 PM
Tickets $15 ($12 Student/Senior)
www.brownpapertickets.com

The all-female cast features Page Byers as Marlene, and Courtney Bohl, Kate Kraay, Carolyn Marie Monroe, Rosalynn Le, Dayo Anderson, Lee Ann Hittenberger, and Chris Hille as an ensemble of actors who portray multiple roles including Pope Joan, the woman who was Pope in the 9th century and Dull Gret, the central figure from a painting by Breughel, who leads a band of women to the mouth of hell. STC Founder, Teresa Thuman directs assisted by Corey McDaniel. Deborah Sorensen designs the costumes, Ciara Rose Griffin designs the set, Laura Gay designs lights and sound with Shanna Ridenour serving as dialect coach.

STC previously brought Puget Sound audiences Tempest In the Lake, a site-specific production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest presented in the water and on the shore of Lake Sammamish; the post-apocalyptic tale Further Adventures of Anse and Bhule in No-man’s Land; and Shakespeare’s satire of the Trojan war, Troilus and Cressida which performed to sold out houses in a former military hangar at Magnuson Park and was the subject of a recent article in the journal Shakespeare Newsletter. Recently, STC presented their first musical theatre production, The Last Five Years, to Bainbridge Island audiences.

SOUND THEATRE COMPANY presents highly theatrical work inspired by language and music while showcasing professional and emerging talent in the Seattle area. Sound Theatre Company operates as a program of Shunpike.
www.soundtheatrecompany.org

SHUNPIKE is a 501c3 non-profit art service organization, whose mission is to strengthen the Seattle arts community by partnering with small and mid-size arts groups to develop the business tools they need to succeed. It was founded in 2001 to support a vibrant and diverse local arts community where arts groups of all sizes could thrive. Working in close partnership with these groups, Shunpike helps solve problems quickly and impart vital skills in finance, organizational management and arts administration. Since inception, they have supported work by more than 2,000 artists in live performance, film, literary arts, visual arts and arts education.
www.shunpike.org

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FACTS

• TOP GIRLS by Caryl Churchill

• May 1 - May 17, Thursday, Friday, Saturday 8:00, Sunday 2:00 (April 30 PWYC Preview)

• Stone Soup’s DownStage Theatre
4035 Stone Way N.
Seattle, WA 98103

• www.soundtheatrecompany.org

• www.brownpapertickets.com

• Tickets $15/$12 Student/Senior

• Pay What You Can performances all Thursdays and Sundays (at the door only) and will include Talk-Back discussion sessions with the artists.

• Tickets purchased at the door, must be by cash or check.