|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
|
Product Description
From Amazon
Reading the script for Caryl Churchill's 1979 play about sex and love is a special workout for the imagination. First, she asks you to imagine characters whose sexual identities and alliances shift constantly. Then she asks you to imagine that most of the characters make an impossible leap in time, from colonial Africa in the Victorian age to contemporary Britain. Lastly, she asks you to imagine some of the male characters played by women and some female characters played by men. Churchill likes to get things good and mixed up so all the audience's preconceptions about gender, romance, and "lifestyle" are scrambled, neutralized, and possibly even rebuilt. The title refers to the state of orgasmic and emotional bliss that everyone in this play seems to be striving for so desperately.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Review
...the play offered an interesting commentary on prescribed notions of gender and sexuality....
–Brown Daily Herald
...Miss Churchill has found a theatrical method that is easily as dizzying as her theme. Not only does she examine a cornucopia of sexual permutations--from heterosexual adultery right up to bisexual incest-- but she does so with a wild array of dramatic styles and tricks....Miss Churchill, as you might gather is one deft writer.
–Frank Rich, The New York Times
An examination of postcolonialism and gender issues doesn't sound like the kindling for a hot night on the town. But Brit playwright Caryl Churchill knows what she's doing when she uses these subjects as the launching pads for her absurd sense of humor and critical commentary. Her 1982 play Cloud Nine--a two act drama in which time and identity are not the rigid constructions we know them to be-is arguably the pinnacle of the playwright's career..
–Eye Weekly, Toronto
Miss Churchill has a highly original imagination, and if what she's got to say is familiar it's funnier and fresher than the last time we heard it said . . . [Cloud Nine] is succinctly sassy, elegantly insulting, written with a quill pen that seems to have been deftly dipped in ice water.
–Walter Kerr, The New York Times --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
–Brown Daily Herald
...Miss Churchill has found a theatrical method that is easily as dizzying as her theme. Not only does she examine a cornucopia of sexual permutations--from heterosexual adultery right up to bisexual incest-- but she does so with a wild array of dramatic styles and tricks....Miss Churchill, as you might gather is one deft writer.
–Frank Rich, The New York Times
An examination of postcolonialism and gender issues doesn't sound like the kindling for a hot night on the town. But Brit playwright Caryl Churchill knows what she's doing when she uses these subjects as the launching pads for her absurd sense of humor and critical commentary. Her 1982 play Cloud Nine--a two act drama in which time and identity are not the rigid constructions we know them to be-is arguably the pinnacle of the playwright's career..
–Eye Weekly, Toronto
Miss Churchill has a highly original imagination, and if what she's got to say is familiar it's funnier and fresher than the last time we heard it said . . . [Cloud Nine] is succinctly sassy, elegantly insulting, written with a quill pen that seems to have been deftly dipped in ice water.
–Walter Kerr, The New York Times --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
Low bright sun. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Low bright sun. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Study in Alienation,
By
This review is from: Cloud 9 (Paperback)
As far as Brechtian plays go, Churchill is a master at alienation and disidentification- characters in this play are played as the protagonist's projection of who he thinks they should be (ie: the westernized African servant is played by a white actor). Although the effect is extremely powerful onstage, particularly when it raises up complex social and ethnic issues, the different characters can be hard to keep straight on paper. This play works far better in performance than it does in print, but it remains a valuable teaching tool for both Brecht and World Theatre studies.
3.0 out of 5 stars
For those into theatrical arts,
By A Customer
This review is from: Cloud 9 (Paperback)
For those of you who are familiar whith Brechtian practices this is a very good source. However, if you are not into the study of performance this might not be the book for you. It is very explicit with sexual orientation and questions gender and social status.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Moral Certainties and Uncertainties,
By Rob Derida (Toronto, ON CANADA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Cloud 9 (Paperback)
This play is an interesting approach to the question of morality in the 'modern' age. It contrasts two worlds, one of moral certainty in a Victorian colonial home, and one of complete amorality and uncertainty in contemporary Britain. It does however go beyond these issues to deal with other important issues like Gender roles and the general issue of both mental and physical 'colonization' of people by society. This play should be read by anyone even remotely interested in these themes.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
