Last Updated on November 11, 2026
A still relevant deconstruction of power, gender and colonialism with marvellous ensemble acting.
4.0 out of 5.0 starsThe opening of Cloud 9 by Caryl Churchill reveals a Victorian family in nineteenth century colonial Africa – they are carefully arranged and their black and white costumes and crinolined dresses suggest the cardboard cut outs of a toy theatre – they sing a patriotic paean to England and then in rhyming couplets describe their roles; Clive (Sam Troughton) declares ‘I am a father to the natives here. And father to my family so dear’. The cracks soon appear however, Clive tells us with conviction ‘My wife is all I dreamt a wife to be’. Betty his wife, is played by a man (Stuart Thompson). There is a baby (a doll) appropriately named Victoria who is thrown about with abandon.
Clive’s son Edward (Ellen Robertson) is played by a woman and his effeminate impulses are comically progressively ignored or rationalised by his father. He loves to play with Victoria’s actual doll. Ellen (Rebecca Humphries) the governess is a lesbian. When Clive’s long awaited close friend Harry (Tom Mothersdale) arrives from exploring rivers, the macho swashbuckling image is soon undone – he is gay and it is suggested he has a too close relationship with young Edward.
Cloud 9 like much progressive theatre in the seventies was the result of an extensive workshop process where actors would sign up not sure what kind of play would emerge. Churchill was working with the Joint Stock company and had three months after the workshop to write the play. A lot of the workshop and improvisation focussed on the participants sexual history and orientation. One of the themes that emerged was the link between colonialism and male colonialism of women.
Joshua (Eloka Ivo) is the black family servant; originally he was written to be played by a white actor, mirroring the gender switches of Betty and Edward but in this production he is not. He is very faithful to Clive and describes his soul as white, he hates his tribe and assists Clive in the flogging of some recalcitrant stable boys. However, as the play develops we see his perceived insubordination towards Betty and Edward. Act 1 has many of the ingredients of farce, the strict parameters of each character’s thinking generates much humour but Churchill also shows the misery of this as they are blind to each other’s complexity.
In Act 2 we reel forward one hundred hears to the late 1970’s. The characters that are brought forward from Act 1 are twenty five years older but are contemporary to the seventies. So for example, Victoria (Charlotte Ritchie) is now in her late twenties, has a young child and is married to Martin who is constantly mansplaining her own liberation.
The other two characters brought forward are Edward, who is working as a gardener and in a relationship with Gerry and Betty who has left Clive. There is a lot of doubling which gives a lot of nuance – Ellen Robertson (who was Edward in Act 1) now plays the older Betty in Act 2, while Stuart Thompson (Betty in Act 1) plays the adult Edward and so on.
A new character is Lin, a lesbian with a four or five year old girl named Cathy. Cathy is played by Sam Troughton (Clive of Act 1) complete with beard. Again very suggestive stuff of how being a little girl is learned rather than innate. This second Act shows more change in characters than in Act 1. In some senses it is more hopeful, Victoria enjoys a freeing relationship with Lin and seems less a theoretical feminist and more involved in the real. Similarly, through his three way relationship with Lin and Victoria Edward escapes his false dichotomy that if he dislikes men like Clive, he needs to be a woman like Betty.
Dominic Cooke’s direction handles beautifully the subtle notes in each character, it never feels too forced. In particular he avoids any semblance of campness for its own sake and Stuart Thompson should be also praised in this respect. The set by Miriam Buether evokes a grand colonial house surrounded by jungle which transforms into a playground in a suburban park in Act 2. The broken columns of colonial certainty are haphazardly arranged as see saws and activity areas. The colonial legacy smashed but not absolved. Echoes of the past are also heard when Clive appears as a ghost to try and reprimand Betty but is impotent to do so – Betty is enjoying life without Clive and has discovered masturbation.
Cloud 9 asks a lot of its audience, the leap from Act 1 to Act 2 is a big one. We see the resonances but despite Cooke’s endeavours it does feel a bit like two plays and this is not helped by having a long interval, apparently to construct the set of Act 2. We have some continuity of engagement but it is not profound and the overall effect is cerebral rather than emotional. Near the end there is also some overstretch; a ghost soldier killed in Northern Ireland appears. Whilst making a point about ongoing colonialism it feels very much a late 1970’s preoccupation.
Act 1 gallops through its plot but it doesn’t feel very consequential and the same can be said of Act 2. We don’t really get to know the new characters and there isn’t much drama – lots of relationship recalibration and whether Victoria may or may not take a job in Manchester. Cloud 9 is funny but I suspect the political and sexual arguments would have been more impactful for late 70’s, early 80’s audiences and the workshop genesis gives us a lot of vignettes without feeling like a relatable organic whole. Definitely worth seeing; it is an important play in the history of theatre and it is beautifully realised in this top notch production.
Lyttelton Theatre
National Theatre
South Bank
London SE1 9PX
11th – 13th January
Tickets from £25 Cloud 9
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