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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
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