CLOUD NINE (PLAY)

'''Cloud Nine''' is a two-act play written by British playwright Caryl Churchill and first performed at Dartington College of Arts, London, on February 14, 1979Caryl Churchill, Plays: One (London: Methuen London, 1985). Act 1 is set in British colonial Africa in Victorian times, Act 2 is set in a London park in 1979. The play uses controversial portrayals of sexuality and obscene language and establishes a parallel between colonial and sexual oppressionMichael Patterson, The Oxford Guide to Plays (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).

Contents

Persons in the Play

Synopsis

Interpretations and Observations

References

Persons in the Play

'Act 1'

★ 'Clive', a colonial administrator

★ 'Betty', his wife, played by a man

★ 'Joshua', his black servant, played by a white

★ 'Edward', his son, played by a woman

★ 'Victoria', his daughter, a dummy

★ 'Maud', his mother-in-law

★ 'Ellen', Eward's governess

★ 'Harry Bagley', an explorer

★ 'Mrs Saunders', a widow
'Act 2'

★ 'Betty'

★ 'Edward', her son

★ 'Victoria', her daughter

★ 'Martin', Victoria's husband

★ 'Lin'

★ 'Cathy', Lin's daughter age 5, played by a man

★ 'Gerry', Edward's lover

Synopsis

Clive, a British colonial administrator, lives with his family, a governess and servant during turbulent times in Africa. The natives are rioting and Mrs Saunders, a widow, comes to them to seek safety. Her arrival is soon followed by Harry Bagley, an explorer. Clive makes passionate advances to Mrs Saunders, his wife Betty fancies Harry, who has sex with the servant Joshua and Clive's son Edward. The governess Ellen, who reveals herself to be a lesbian, is forced into marriage with Harry. Act 1 ends with the wedding celebrations; the final scene is Clive giving a speech while Joshua is pointing a gun at him. Although Act 2 is set in 1979, some of the characters of Act 1 are reappearing – for them only 25 years have passed. Betty has left Clive, her daughter Victoria is now married to Martin, and Edward has an openly gay relationship with Gerry. Victoria leaves Martin and starts a lesbian relationship with Lin. When Gerry leaves Edward, Edward moves in with his sister and Lin. After suggestion that she too might move in, Betty begins a relationship with Gerry.

Interpretations and Observations

Act One of Cloud Nine invites the audience to engage with Britain’s colonial past, but does so by challenging 'the preconceived notions held by the audience in terms of gender and sexuality'Shanon Baisden, 'How Feminist Theatre Became "Queer": A Look into Caryl Churchill’s Cloud Nine' (2004), p. 1. Churchill deliberately subverts gender and racial stereotypes, using cross-gender and cross-racial casting: Betty is played by a man in act 1, but by a woman in act 2, Joshua is played by a white and Edward is played by a woman in act one and by a man in act 2. Churchill deliberately uses the notion of cross gender, racial and age casting to catch the awareness of her audience.
In the introduction of the play, Churchill explains why for example Betty is played by a man in the first act: ‘she wants to be what men want her to be ... Betty does not value herself as a woman.’ Michael Patterson confirms this when he writes that 'Betty is played by a man in order to show how femininity is an artificial and imposed construct'Michael Patterson, The Oxford Guide to Plays (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), p. 84.
The black servant, Joshua, is played by a white man for similar reasons. ‘My skin is black, but o, my soul is white. I hate my tribe. My master is my light.’ It is not so much what Joshua is but how we, as an audience see him that is being highlighted. Amelia Howe Kritzer argues that he is played by a white man because ‘the reversal exposes the rupture in Joshua’s identity caused by his internationalization of colonial values’Amelia Howe Kritzer, The Plays of Caryl Churchill (London, The MacMillan Press, 1991), p. 113. Joshua does not identify with his 'own' people; in act one, scene three Mrs. Saunders asks if he doesn't mind beating his own people. Joshua replies that they are not his people, and refers to them as being bad.
The second act is set in London 1979, but for the characters only twenty-five years have passed. Churchill explains her reason for this in the introduction: ‘The first act, like the society it shows, is male dominated and firmly structured. In the second act, more energy comes from the women and the gays.’ In Act Two, the British colonial oppression is also present, this time in the form of the post-colonial presence in Northern Ireland. Although the different societies in the two acts are quite different, they share the notion of colonial oppression. Michael Patterson writes that ‘the actors ... established a “parallel between colonial and sexual oppression”, showing how the British occupation of Africa in the 19th century and its post-colonial presence in Northern Ireland relate to the patriarchal values of society’Michael Patterson, The Oxford Guide to Plays (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), p. 84. Churchill shows the audience different views of oppression, both colonial and sexual. She amplifies social constructs by linking the two periods, using an unnatural time gap. Amelia Howe Kritzer argues that ‘Churchill remained close to the Brechtian spirit of encouraging the audience to actively criticize institutions and ideologies they have previously taken for granted’Amelia Howe Kritzer, The Plays of Caryl Churchill (London, The MacMillan Press, 1991), p. 111.
There is a lot of difference between the two acts: Act Two contains a lot more sexual freedom for women whereas in Act One the men dictate the relationships. Act Two ‘focuses on changes in the structure of power and authority, as they affect sex and relationships’Amelia Howe Kritzer, The Plays of Caryl Churchill (London, The MacMillan Press, 1991), p. 122, a male dominated structure defined in the first act. Churchill writes that she ‘explored Genet’s idea that colonial oppression and sexual oppression are similar’Amelia Howe Kritzer, The Plays of Caryl Churchill (London, The MacMillan Press, 1991), p. 112. She essentially uses the play as a social arena to explore ‘the Victorian origins of contemporary gender definitions and sexual attitudes, recent changes ... and some implications of these changes’Amelia Howe Kritzer, The Plays of Caryl Churchill (London, The MacMillan Press, 1991), p. 111.

References