By Laura Zornosa
What if famed British playwright Caryl Churchill were an out lesbian and her partner a Black butch mechanic named Edith? Now imagine that the famous dreamlike opening sequence to Churchill’s groundbreaking 1982 play Top Girls comprised appearances by (among others) Phillis Wheatley and Sappho rather than Pope Joan and Isabella Bird. Welcome to the world of Pot Girls.
If that sounds like a lot, well… yes. And that’s not even the half of it. Chicago’s Story Theatre delivers a smoky riff on Churchill’s play, which gathers history’s most extraordinary women who toast their climb to the top—each revealing that breaking the glass ceiling has often shattered the women who do it.
A ‘Top Girls’ remix with a lot on its mind
The premise encapsulates The Story Theatre’s ethos (“to pose questions, rather than provide answers”), although here it can feel claustrophobic and frustrating. If a work is going to attempt to tackle race, class, gender, sexuality, oppression, and freedom in one fell swoop, and ask lofty questions (What is the role of critique in creation? Can we judge the artist’s politics by the artwork’s problems?), I’d like to see the answer more solidly postulated.
After the opening sequence, we see a rehearsal of Churchill’s Top Girls, after which nepo baby literary assistant, Naomi (Myah Bridgewater), confronts the playwright (Brenna DiStasio) about the lack of representation and intersectionality in her play. There’s substantive dialogue about race, class (this imagining of Churchill didn’t go to college and is a working artist), and who gets to tell whose story.
Another, later scene between Caryl and Edith (Ireon Roach) about the racial dynamics in their relationship functions similarly: meaty without the fat of the opening sequence and fourth-wall-breaking coda.
Such moments in Pot Girls cut straight to the bone and show us what this play could be: queries that illuminate, rather than questions that obfuscate.
Is ‘Pot Girls’ worth seeing?
3 out of 5 stars
The Story Theatre’s Pot Girls is a bold, brainy reimagining with scenes that cut deep, but the play’s ambitious reach sometimes exceeds its grasp.
- Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark St., Chicago
- Notable performers: Brenna DiStasio, Ireon Roach, Myah Bridgewater
- Running time: Two hours with a 15-minute intermission
- Performances through March 8, 2026
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