Top Girls

Marlene is the central character and protagonist, and she is the only character who appears in all three acts and is not double cast. She is the newly promoted managing director for the Top Girls Employment Agency in London, and she is financially successful. In the first two acts of the play, audiences are set up to root for Marlene as a woman who is breaking the glass ceiling. Her dinner party in Act I places her among historical women who have sacrificed their health, family, children, autonomy, lovers, and even their gender identity in pursuit of their goals. But their stories are terrible and full of trauma, and in the end they were largely forgotten in history, while Marlene has no living friends or family to celebrate her big promotion. Her interactions with colleagues, clients, and family members suggest that, in her pursuit of success, Marlene has lost the ability to empathize with others. In the third act, Marlene’s secrets are spilled. She grew up poor and became pregnant at 17. Too scared to tell anyone or even go to a doctor, Marlene had no choice but to give birth.

Marlene’s sister, Joyce, adopted the baby, who turns out to be Angie, and Marlene escaped their small town.