Caryl Churchill - Top Girls

A dinner party with a difference - as Marlene, a modern, successful woman of the 1980s, entertains five guests from the past.

19th century Victorian traveller Isabella Bird, 13th century Japanese Courtesan Lady Nijo, Dull Gret, a character from a Breughel painting, Pope Joan and, arriving late, Patient Griselda - Chaucer's obedient wife.

All are remarkable women - all are long dead.

Caryl Churchill's drama - first staged in 1982 at the Royal Court in London - examines the political costs of women rising to the top.

Starring Lesley Manville as Marlene, Deborah Findlay as Isabella Bird, Lesley Sharp as Dull Gret, Sarah Lam as Lady Nijo, Cecily Hobbs as Pope Joan, Anna Patrick as Patient Griselda and Beth Goddard as the Waitress.

Director: Hilary Norrish

First broadcast on the BBC World Service in 1992.