CLOUD NINE

About the show

Scandalously funny, thought-provoking and heartbreaking, Cloud Nine is an enduring theatrical masterpiece. It's a story about people bursting to change who they are. Betty is a mother lusting for adultery. Edward is a boy trying to be a man. Joshua is a servant with a hunger for power. Ellen is a governess in love with another woman. Around them is an extended family of husbands, sisters, lovers and friends. Everyone is looking for liberation. Their story begins in Victorian-era Africa – a time of corsets and colonies, of suppressed urges and hunting rifles. The play ends in London a century later, but the characters have aged only 25 years. For some, dreams have come true. For others, the complications have only just begun. Along the way, Churchill unpicks the knotted realities of love and identity with an audacious sense of humour and more than a little sauciness. STC Artistic Director Kip Williams (Chimerica) brings a crisp new vision to this remarkable modern classic. STC Resident Designer Elizabeth Gadsby (Disgraced) is crafting the exquisite set and costumes. And a brilliant ensemble of actors will bring it all to life – including Kate Box (ABC’s Rake), Harry Greenwood (Love and Information), Heather Mitchell (Away), Josh McConville (All My Sons) and Anthony Taufa (Black is the New White). Caryl Churchill’s Love and Information was a popular and critical success in 2015 and, in Cloud Nine, Kip Williams continues his exploration of her work with one of her greatest achievements. A master of character and politics, Churchill distils a symphonic array of ideas into living, breathing, tangible people you come to know, love or despise.