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Cloud 9

Full-Length Play, Comedy  /  3w, 4m

This time-shifting comedy by the author of Top Girls, which created a sensation in its off-Broadway premiere, continues to thrill and delight audiences worldwide. A hilarious and scathing parody of colonialism and the Victorian Empire, particularly in its rigid attitude toward sex, Cloud 9 explodes conventions and celebrates acceptance with wit and biting humor.

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    3w, 4m
  • Duration
    Duration
    More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult
Accolades
Accolades
  • Winner! 1981 Obie Award for Playwriting

Details

Summary

This time-shifting comedy by the author of Top Girls created a sensation in its off-Broadway premiere, directed by Tommy Tune. A hilarious and scathing parody of colonialism and the Victorian Empire, particularly in its rigid attitude toward sex, Cloud 9 explodes conventions and challenges its audience with humor and wit.

There is Clive, a British functionary; his wife Betty (played by a man); their daughter Victoria (a rag doll); Clive’s friend Harry, an explorer; Mrs. Saunders, who runs about dressed in a riding habit; Clive’s son Edward, who still plays with dolls (and is played by a woman); and Joshua, an African servant who knows exactly what is really going on. What really is going on is a marvelous sendup and a non-stop round-robin of sexual liaisons. The second act shifts to London in 1980. Though a century has passed, the surviving characters have only aged 25 years. Now played by different actors, the characters have lost their repressed sexual longings, along with the Empire.

History
Cloud 9 premiered at the Dartington College of Arts in Devon, England, on February 14, 1979. The play premiered off-Broadway at the Theatre de Lys (now the Lucille Lortel) on May 1, 1981. Directed by Tommy Tune, the production featured Zeljko Ivanek, Jeffrey Jones, E. Katherine Kerr and Concetta Tomei.

Act I

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 – Edward's governess
HARRY BAGLEY – an explorer
MRS. SAUNDERS – a widow (played by the same actress who plays Ellen)

Act II

BETTY – now played by a woman (normally the same actress who plays Edward)
EDWARD – her son, now played by a man (normally the same actor who plays Betty)
VICTORIA – her daughter (normally played by the same actress who plays Maud)
MARTIN – Victoria's husband (normally played by the same actor who plays Harry)
LIN – a lesbian single mother (normally played by the same actress who plays Ellen/Mrs. Saunders)
CATHY – Lin's daughter, age 5, played by a man (normally the same actor who plays Clive)
GERRY – Edward's lover (normally played by the same actor who plays Joshua)

  • Time Period Contemporary, 1980s, Victorian (British and American)
  • Setting Africa, 1880, and London, 1980.
  • Features Period Costumes
  • Duration More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • Cautions
    • Mild Adult Themes

Media

“Intelligent, inventive and funny.” – The New York Times
“I really don't know when I've had more fun. It blends farce, pathos into a work of total theatre.” – New York Daily News

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $130 per performance
  • Optional Music/Media Fee: $25 per performance

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Authors

Caryl Churchill

Caryl Churchill was born on 3 September 1938 in London and grew up in the Lake District and in Montreal. She was educated at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Downstairs, her first play written while she was still at university, was first staged in 1958 and won an award at the Sund ...

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