Presented by Aska

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Presented by Aska Eden Iris Phoebe Rachel
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Caryl Churchill

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Born in London on September 3, 1938.She grew
up in England and Canada.Churchill's writing
focuses on issues of class and economics and
their effect on women.
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• In 1960, she received a BA in English from Oxford
  University.She wrote three plays Downstairs,
  You've No Need to be Frightened, and Having a
  Wonderful Time.
• After graduation, she began to write radio plays
  for the BBC. Including The Ants (1962), Not, Not,
  Not, Not Enough Oxygen (1971), and Schreber's
  Nervous Illness (1972).
• Her first professionally produced play was Owners
  (1972) at the Royal Court Theatre in London.

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• Churchill has written plays in extended
  workshop processes with the
  directors and actors of two British theater
  groups Monstrous Regiment and Joint Stock. While
  working with Joint Stock and Monstrous Regiment,
  Churchill wrote a number of successful plays
  including Light Shining on Buckinghamshire
  (1976), Vinegar Tom (1976), Cloud Nine (1979),
  and A Mouthful of Birds (1986).
• Churchill's association with Joint Stock resulted
  in her most famous play, Cloud 9 (1979), about
  the relationship of colonialism and gender
  oppression.

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• Churchill's remarkable career continues to
  develop, her plays seem to be growing more and
  more sparse and less and less inhibited by
  realism. In The Skriker (1994), she utilizes an
  associative dream logic which some critics found
  to be nonsensical.
• Churchill married David Harter in 1961 and has
  three sons. Her awards include three Obie Award
  (1982, 1983 1988) and a Society of West End
  Theatre Award (1988).

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Act I - Characters

• Clive - Bettys husband, a British aristocrat, a
  racist,
• have an affair with Mrs. Sauders
• Betty - Clives wife, played by a man,
  indecisive,
• dreams of relationship with
  Harry
• Joshua - An African native, Clives servant,
  played
• by a white, negation of his
  own race
• Harry - Clives friend, a British explore,
  homosexuality,
• sexual leanings of the members of
  Clives family

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Act I - Characters

• Mrs. Saunders - A widow, objective, having an
  affair
• with Clive
• Edward - Clives son, played by a woman,
  proclivity to
• feminine things,
  attraction to males
• Victoria - Clives daughter, played by a dummy
• Maud - Bettys mother, a traditionalist, believes
  that
• women are meant to serve
  husband and home
• Ellen - Edwards governess, fond of Betty

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Act I Summary (1)

• The main characters of Clives family welcome
  the audience to his African home with a song
  paying tribute to England. Clive returns home
  after managing the troubles among local tribes.
  Betty greets him and they swap stories about
  their days' experiences. When Clive learns that
  Joshua has been rude to Betty, he scolds Joshua.
  After this scolding, Clive greets the rest of his
  family, asking his children about their daily
  activities. Then the family welcomes Harry Bagley
  and Mrs. Saunders. Harry, an explorer, visits the
  family between expeditions. Mrs. Saunders, a
  widow, arrives exhausted, seeking protection from
  the natives. Betty and Harry flirt, revealing
  their attraction for one another. Later, Harry
  asks Joshua to have sex with him, and they leave
  for the barn together.

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Act I Summary (2)

• Clive chases Mrs. Saunders away from the
  house and performs oral sex on her. At the
  Christmas picnic, Clive and Harry toss a ball
  with Edward. The game of ball gives way to a game
  of hide and seek, during which Edward and Harry
  reveal that they have a sexual history. Edward
  hopes to rekindle this relationship, but Harry is
  hesitant to approve. Meanwhile, Ellen professes
  her love for Betty. Betty dismisses Ellen's
  comments as ridiculous. Later, Clive and the men
  flog the natives as the women wait inside the
  house. Ellen becomes angry with Edward for
  playing with a doll and slaps him. When Clive
  returns from the flogging, Edward apologizes for
  playing with the doll and asks his father for
  forgiveness. When all but Betty and Clive leave
  for the verandah, Clive tells Betty that he knows
  about her affair with Harry and then he forgives
  her.

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Act I Summary (3)

• As tension grows among the natives, Clive
  finds a moment alone with Harry telling about the
  increasing dangers. Harry makes a pass at Clive.
  Seeking a cure for Harry's perversity, Clive
  attempts to marry Harry to Mrs. Saunders. She
  refuses it. News that Joshua's parents have been
  killed by British troops distracts Clive
  momentarily. Then Clive forces an engagement
  between Harry and Ellen. At the wedding party,
  Mrs. Saunders announces that she is leaving, but
  before she can exit, Clive kisses her, prompting
  a fight between Mrs. Saunders and Betty.
  Disgusted at Mrs. Saunders behavior, Clive kicks
  her out of the house. When Clive goes to toast
  the newly engaged couple, Joshua raises a gun to
  shoot Clive. Edward sees this action, but does
  not warn Clive.

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Act ?- Characters

• Betty - Played by an old woman, acquires sense
• of independence
• Victoria - Bettys daughter, search for her own
  identity
• Lin - A brash lesbian, uncertain about being a
  mother, fond of Victoria
• Cathy - Lins daughter, played by a man, using
• aggressive language

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Act ?- Characters

• Martin - Victorias husband, Sex-obsessed,
• self-righteous
• Edward - Bettys son, played by a man,
  homosexual,
• fits well into the role of
  mother and wife
• Gerry - Edwards lover, a promiscuous
• homosexual, distaste for
  commitment
• Tommy - Victorias son

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Act ? - Summary (1)

• Victoria appears in a London park on a winter
  afternoon with Lin and Cathy. When Cathy exits to
  play elsewhere, Lin informs Victoria that she is
  a lesbian, and she asks Victoria to go to a movie
  with her. Edward, now a gardener, joins the two
  women, followed by Betty. Betty also mentions
  that she is considering leaving Clive. Betty lets
  Cathy play with her jewelry. In the spring,
  Edward's lover Gerry comes to the park, where
  they argue about Gerry's lack of commitment.
  Victoria returns to the park with her husband
  Martin, who speaks about sex and his desire to
  please Victoria. Lin enters when Martin leaves
  and tells Victoria that her brother, a soldier,
  has died in Belfast. When Lin and Cathy get into
  a fight, they lose track of Victoria's son Tommy.
  A brief panic ensues before they find him. Gerry
  and Edward return, and Gerry breaks up with
  Edward.

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Act ? - Summary (2)

• On a summer night, Lin, Victoria, and Edward
  come to the park to hold a ceremony for a sex
  goddess. Martin arrives and they pull him into
  the orgy. Moments later, Lin's dead brother
  appears and relates the experience of his service
  in the army. Lin collapses when her brother
  disappears. Characters from Africa begin to make
  brief appearances, interacting with the London
  characters. By late summer, Lin, Victoria, and
  Edward have moved in together. Betty has
  rediscovered the joy of masturbation. Gerry and
  Edward reconcile and make plans to go out some
  time. On a trip to get ice cream, the Dead Hand
  Gang assaults Cathy. Martin and Lin fight over
  who was supposed to be looking after Cathy. All
  but Gerry and Betty leave. In her discussion with
  Gerry, Betty comes to terms with the fact that
  Edward is homosexual. Betty from Africa returns
  and embraces the new Betty.

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• On September 23rd through the 26th 1999, Clemson
  University's Theatre Department performed Caryl
  Churchill's play Cloud 9 at Clemson's Brooks
  Theatre.

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Costume Designers for Cloud 9

•   The costumes let the audience be transported
  back into the time period of the play and to get
  a better understanding of the dress of that time.
  

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In the first act, the setting is Africa in 1879

• In this time period, the dress was traditionally
  Victorian which can consist of hoop skirts, tight
  bodices, knee high socks, and riding outfits. So
  this part is difficult. Many pieces of costumes
  had to be made by hand.

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In the second act, the setting is London in
1979. 

• This would be standard contemporary dress. So
  dressing the actors was a little easier.

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Cross-dressing

• In the play, there are men playing women and vise
  versa.  The director wanted the audience to
  recognize the actors by their face, not by the
  type of costume they wore when they were the
  previous character.

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Costumes of Characters in Act 1

• The director wanted Act 1 costumes to be bright
  because of the mood.

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Clive
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Betty
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Edward
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Harry Bagley
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Mrs. Saunders
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Joshua
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Costumes of Characters in Act 2

• In Act 2, the colors of the costumes would be
  muted because the mood of this act was more
  somber than Act 1.

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Betty
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Edward
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Victoria
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Lin
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Cathy
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Gerry
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Martin
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Interesting Information

• The hardest costumes were Lin and Gerry in Act 2
  (She did not want them to look like the
  stereotypical homosexual)
• Women shoes that fit men sizes are very hard to
  find
• Casts (in general) usually do not like the
  costumes (The cast for Cloud 9 has been really
  great in accepting the costumes.)

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Themes

• Colonial Oppression
• Sexual Oppression
• Violence
• Sex and Gender
• The Quest for Identity

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The Sets on the Stage

• Act I takes place in Africa, roughly during the
  1870's, the British Victorian era. During this
  time period, British colonialism was still in
  full swing.
• Act II takes place in London around 1979. By this
  time period, British colonialism had all but
  completely deflated, but other forms of
  repression remained. Homosexuals, though far from
  completely welcome, had established a presence in
  the cultural landscape of British society.
  Divorce had become acceptable, and women had
  gained new freedoms and greater status.

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Colonial Oppression

• CLIVE had those Stable boys flogged.
• CLIVE Its my duty to have them flogged, to
  keep you safe.
• CLIVE You can tame a wild animal only so far. ..
  Sometimes I feel the natives are the enemy.
  Implacable. This whole continent is my enemy. I
  am pitching my whole mind and will and reason
  and spirit against it to tame it,. (p. 33)
• CLIVE made JOSHUA flog those stable boys, and he
  thought its necessary to do so.

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Colonial Oppression

• The British Soldiers oppressed the African
  natives
• CLIVE ... Harry, there was trouble last night.
  But its all over now. Everything is
  under control.
• CLIVE We did a certain amount of damage, set
  a village on fire and so forth.
• CLIVE The army will come and visit, . to
  see the British army? (p. 37)

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Colonial Oppression

• The British Soldiers killed JOSHUAs parents.
• MRS SAUNDERS . Ive just found Joshua
  putting earth on his head. He tells me
  his parents were killed last night by the
  British
• soldiers. I think you owe him an
  apology on behalf of the Queen. (p. 41)
• 
  
• Then JOSHUA shot CLIVE at HARRYs and ELLENs
  wedding.

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Sexual Oppression

• CLIVE forbad EDWARD playing with a doll.
• CLIVE Whats that youre holding?
• BETTY Its Victorias doll.
• BETTY You dont want papa to see you with a
  doll.
• CLIVE Ellen minds Victoria, let Ellen mind the
  doll
• ELLEN takes the doll. (p. 8)

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Sexual Oppression

• CLIVE felt disgusted at HARRY for hes a gay.
• CLIVE My God, Harry, how disgusting.
• HARRY It is not a sin, it is a disease.
• CLIVE My God, what a betrayal of the Queen.
• HARRY Clive, I am like a man born crippled.
  (pp 40-41)
• CLIVE enforced HARRY to get married.

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Sexual Oppression

• ELLENs inner oppression.
• ELLEN Betty, what happens with a man?.
• BETTY ELLEN, youre not getting married to
  enjoy yourself.
• ELLEN Dont forget me, Betty. (p. 44)
• ELLEN will be oppressed in her life after shes
  married because she actually loved a woman,
  Betty, not men.

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Violence

• BETTY and ELLEN slapped EDWARD. EDWARD,
  meanwhile, has found the doll and is playing clap
  hands with her.
• BETTY Edward, what have you got there?
• BETTY Edward, Ive told you before, dolls are
  for girls.
• BETTY You must never let the boys at school
  know you like dolls. Never, never. ... (p.
  30)
• (continue)

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Violence

• BETTY you wont grow up to be a man like your
  papa.
• BETTY . and papa will beat you.
• BETTY takes the doll away, slaps him, bursts into
  tears. ELLEN comes in. . She slaps EDWARD, who
  bursts into tears and goes out. (pp 30-31)
• BETTY and ELLEN slapped EDWARD because he held
  the doll again. EDWARD didnt want to be a man
  like his father.
• CLIVE himself was not actively violent, perhaps
  suggesting the hypocrisy of his oppression.
• He kept his hands clean by allowing others to
  actually carry out his wishes with violence.

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Violence

• LINs and CATHYs conversation always filled with
  violence.
• CATHY What is it? Who skilled? What?
• CATHY Can I have his gun?
• CATHY Fuck off.
• LIN hits CATHY, CATHY cries.
• LIN And shut up or Ill give you something to
  cry for.
• They are all shouting. Then they laugh and
  embrace. (pp 67-68)

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Violence and Sexual Oppression

• The violence of Act I (as CLIVE, BETTY and ELLEN
  did to EDWARD) reappeared in the assault on CATHY
  by the Dead Hand Gang.
• CATHY comes on howling with a nosebleed.
• CATHY Took my ice cream.
• CATHY Took my money.
• CATHY They hit me. I cant play. They said Im
  a girl. (p. 84)

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Sex and Gender

• The play gets inspired from the life stories and
  personal sexual experiences of the theater
  members
• The great challenge of life is learning to
  reconcile one's upbringing and one's physical
  identity with one's true sexuality.
• cross-casting makes gender visible by separating
  feminine gender from the female body, ex Betty
  played by a man

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• cross-casting also illuminates the role of
  socialization in the formation of gender
  identity, ex young Edward trying to escape from
  traditional role expectations
• the only cross-casting of Cathy in act two
  involves in the issue of what is considered
  correct behavior for a girl, in association with
  Edward in Act One
• characters not played by opposite-sex actors have
  nontraditional sexual orientations
• ex Harrys sexual relationship with little
  Edward.

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The Quest for Identity

• Characters self introduction in the beginning
• Characters in act one not able to act out their
  true feelings
• game of hide and seek allows them to reveal
  themselves
• Clive's value system calls for a covering of
  identity if that identity disrespects England
• Betty, Edward, and Victoria in act two continue
  the search for identity
• they face new challenges of establishing an
  identity in a world far different from Victorian
  era Africa

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Motifs

• Embracing
• Seasons

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Embracing

• the act of embracing repeatedly as a physical
  means of demonstrating love or the lack of love,
  ex Ellen embraces Betty as she expresses her
  love for her.
• Clive and Betty never embrace, suggesting the
  superficiality of their relationship
• the two Bettys embrace at the end, showing Betty
  has finally grown to love herself

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Seasons

• seasonal changes parallel the self journey
• act two opens in winter, the sexuality of the
  characters are cold and dead in many ways
• when spring arrives in act two, scene two, people
  begin to come out of sexual hibernation, ex
  Gerry and Edward break off their relationship,
  Victoria and Martin argue about the their
  marriage
• with summer comes sexual liberation, Lin,
  Victoria, and Edward hold an orgy in the park,
  and Betty rediscovers masturbation.

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Symbols

• Betty's Necklace
• Guns
• Dolls

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Betty's Necklace

• In Act I, the necklace represents Edward's secret
  defiance of his family in seeking Harry's love
• In Act II, the necklace symbolizes Betty's
  connection with the past

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Guns

• first used as an indication of the violence of
  Clive's world
• Ironically, the system that Clive sets up
  eventually brings about his death at the end of
  Act One.
• symbol of power in Act Two Lin arms Cathy with
  toy guns to give Cathy status that Lin never had
  as a little girl.

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Dolls

• a symbol of submissive femininity in Act One
• Victoria in Act One whos played by a doll/dummy
  implies Clive's idea of how women should be.
• Edwards playing with the doll foreshadows his
  playing a submissive role in a homosexual
  relationship
• Joshuas act of cutting the doll suggests his
  betrayal against Clive

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Betty

• But if there isn't a right way to do things you
  have to invent one.

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Study Questions

• Discuss Churchill's choice to have actors play
  characters opposite their own sex. What are the
  theatrical and thematic implications of this
  choice?
• How do the characters change from act one to act
  two? What cause them to change?
• Discuss Betty's rediscovery of masturbation. How
  does this relate to her search for identity?

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Works Cited

• Caryl Churchill. Cloud 9 Study Guide. 24 May 2006
  lthttp//www.sparknotes.com/drama/cloudnine/themes.
  htmlgt.
• Caryl Churchill. MSN Encarta. 24 May 2006
  lthttp//encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761579363/Car
  yl_Churchill.htmlgt.
• Caryl Churchill. 24 May 2006 lthttp//www.imagi-na
  tion.com/moonstruck/clsc45.htmlgt.
• Caryl Churchill. 24 May 2006
  lthttp//www.lifeofanactor.com/cloudnine.htmgt.
• Churchill, Caryl. Cloud 9. New York Theatre
  Communications Group, 1985.
• Cloud 9 at Clemson University. 24 May 2006
  lthttp//virtual.clemson.edu/groups/dial/lap101/c9i
  ndex/gt.
• Kritzer, Amelia Howe. The Plays of Caryl
  Churchill. New York Palgrave, 1991.