Cloud Nine
The Old Fire Station Theatre
29 October - 2nd November 2002

Carol Churchill's 1978 cult play is a powerful piece of dark satire, serving up insights about, patriarchy, homosexuality, heterosexuality, love, gender relations, social custom, politics, marriage, sex and ….more sex. The title, cloud nine, refers to the state of orgasmic and emotional bliss that seems to be the ultimate goal of every character in this play, giving a taste of what is to come. All of the characters are multifaceted and complex, also outnumbering the cast: every actor plays a number of roles, with plenty of cross-dressing, men playing female roles and adults acting as children.
The first act is hilarious. The events take place in Colonial Africa in 1880, where a male dominance and social roles are played out in a strong English family. Churchill provides great farcical entertainment intelligently exploiting many clichés, while maintaining a self-ironical tone. Act two is 100 years later in London, (the characters, however, seem to have defied time and aged only a quarter of that period). The atmosphere changes radically and the comical becomes replaced with the surreal, as the narrative begins to address feminine identities, self-exploration, and sexual repression. Sexual identities and alliances shift constantly, as the author challenges all our pre-conceptions about gender roles and familial relations.
The acting was of the highest quality; particularly loud applause went to Brian Mullin, who excelled as the ever-flustered Betty, and Tom Wood as the arrogant and macho Clive. Hats off to Mike Tweddle, the director, who certainly did justice to the play; providing us with a highly cathartic experience. All in all, a compelling piece of theatre, which should come with a warning - 'not for the over-sensitive'.

George Gigauri