"Cloud Nine" kicks off Theater Arts new season

"Cloud Nine," put on by the University Players, explores topics dealing with sex and gender across a century-long time span. Keith Ian Polakoff

 

By Austin Lewis
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer

The University Players opened their 2004-05 season with a performance of Caryl Churchill's "Cloud Nine" at the CSULB Players' Theatre on Friday. "Cloud Nine" is the first of six main stage productions that will be performed by the CSULB department of theatre arts undergraduate program this year.

"[The plays] promote education, provoke discussion and encourage our students and audiences to open their minds and their hearts," said Dr. Joanne Gordon, chair of the department of theatre arts at CSULB.

"Cloud Nine" is "an exciting combination of theatricality and naturalism," said Tom Cooke, director of the play and a visiting artist working with the theatre department this semester. "The writing is extraordinary and significant because it was written right at the end of the sexual revolution of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and just before the horror of AIDS," Cooke said.

"Cloud Nine," originally produced in 1979, focuses on topics such as gender-based oppression and women's liberation. The first act of the play takes place in Africa in 1880, and the second act takes place in England in 1980. Many of the same characters are in both acts, but in the 100 years that have passed they have aged only 25 years.

It was discouraging to see such a small turnout for the play — the tickets were sold out, but the theatre only holds about 100 people. The crowd greeted the performers with a warm round of applause at the start of the performance, however, and the amount of laughter generated by a few of the play's early jokes quickly removed any lingering feelings of disappointment.

"Cloud Nine" begins as Clive goes home to his family after a day's work. While greeting his wife and kids, Clive reprimands his servant for insulting his wife. Later in the act, he criticizes his son for playing with a doll. It soon becomes obvious that Clive's morals and values differ greatly from those of the people closest to him. These differences become clearer as the characters play a game of hide and seek together, and the audience learns of the past sexual relationships the characters have had with each other. Tension grows throughout the remainder of the first act.

In the second act, Victoria and Edward separately struggle to find their true identities. Victoria reflects on her marriage to her husband, Martin, and wonders whether she would be happier pursuing a different relationship. Edward, meanwhile, is going through problems of his own and has to work out commitment problems with his partner, Gerry. As the play comes to a close, the characters in England visit with the characters from their past in Africa and have an opportunity to accept each other's differences.

The entire cast was full of energy throughout the night, but the most enthusiastic performance came from Don Formaneck as Clive, an employee of the British Colonial Office who seems to make life difficult for everyone in his household, from the members of his family to his butler.

Other highlights from the first act include MacKenzie Meehan's performance as Edward and Jeremy Aluma's portrayal of Joshua. The casting of these roles — a woman playing a young son and a white man playing a black servant — are an important element of the story as a whole. Throughout the play, these characters try to adapt to the world around them. Valerie Elias' performance as Clive's daughter, Victoria, was one of the strongest points of the play's second act.

The play's four songs were well received by the audience. The performance of "A Boy's Best Friend," a song about Edward's real feelings towards his father, Clive, drew some of the loudest cheers of the night.

The University Players will perform "Cloud Nine" through Oct. 23. The University Players' next play, "Stand and Deliver," will be performed in mid-November.