T didn’t know until I arrived that Top Girls is the last production to be mounted in “Building R,” the ven- erable portable that has served the Theatre Arts * program at Capilano College for so long. The cafeteria across the green has already moved to the south campus and, for once, parking is casy to find in the almost deserted northern half of the ever- expanding local community college. Unfortunately, the relatively few peo- ple at this older end of the mountainside schoo! extends to the audience for whaz is billed as a “studio” production. And that's a shame because Caryl Churchill's play is interesting studc.at fare, for audience and young actor alike. When I first saw the play some 15 years ago it seemed co my innocent male eyes to embody ali the radical feminism of the a jow I realize just how much ahead +f thes curve Churchill realiv wa, as she penned the play vhar would cement her reputotio:, as one of England’s leading playwrights. It's nor just a re-working of polemic but an insighttal demand that women detine thernselves in something other than patriarchal terms without losing their humanity. The play opens in a restaurant at a dinner that clever, ambitious and upward- ly-mobile Marlene is hosting. But her guests are out of this world, or Marlene’s. The limited resources of this student production actually help to maintain the suspense of what is happening since the costume for Marlene’s first two guests, Victorian explorer Isabella Bird and Japanese courte- san Lady Nijo, don’t neces- sarily mix historical eras. Itis only when Dulle Gret, Pope Joan and Patient Gniselda arrive that it becomes obvious we are not dealing in reality. Gret is the peasant warrior painted by Breughel fight- ing the devil in hell; the mythic Pope Joan is a scholar in male disguise who was supposedly pope for nwo years belore giv- ing birth to a child; Griselda, a character of fable wie was held to be a paragon of wiely duty for allowing her husband to kill her children as a test of love. in the nvisted timeline of che play, this beginning serves as both prologue and guilt-indnced afterword as Mariene will demonstrate a single-ininded drive to get to the top of her profession at the expense of her humanity, In the precess she chooses te give up her daughter to her sister”. Care and later will aeain deny the young teenager who was sought her out as “a bit thick. She’s not going to make it.” This being a student production, not all is perfect but the production is consis- tent and solid enough that Churchill’s play provides a provocative point of departure for thoughtful enjoyment. There are 110 real weaknesses (other than the wooden(!) sword and unironed tablecloths) and some pleasant surprises. Beth Junnila shines as Kit while Crystal Primrose is more than credible in the dif- ficult older role of Joyce. If Top Girls is a harbinger of the future for Cap College’s new three-year theatre diploma program, the soon-to-be-opened studio theatre will be a place to visit more often. . 7:30, 9:15 ond 9:30 p.m. Bean — Mon-Thurs at 1:30, 3:30, 7:25 Fri-Sun at 9:20 p.m, 25 and 9:20 p.m Bikini Waxing with Full Leg Wax ne, GFFER Lae ee RT Rr OT MAKE YOUR CHRISTMAS Topay! “On Prernise Wine & Beer Making” INE ri News photo Cindy Goodman A strong student ensembie is featured in Cap College's production of Caryi Churchill’s political play Top Girls. From ieft are: Rebecca G. Bastien, Kathieen Chung, Kristen Robinson, Beth Junnila, Lisa Pope, Kim Burnett and Jane Sianton. 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