Experience the Topsy Turvy World of Cloud 9
Published: March 07, 2023 | Author: Kol Gibson | Read Time: 3 minutes
Southern Utah University’s Department of Theatre, Dance, and Arts Administration presents Cloud 9 by Caryl Churchill on March 8, 10, 11, and 16, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. with a matinee on March 18 at 2:00 p.m. in the Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre. Please be advised that this production includes explicit content and strong language. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for alumni, and $5 for non-SUU students. SUU students, faculty, and staff (and one guest) can attend for free with a valid ID card. Tickets can be purchased at the Utah Shakespeare Festival Box Office an hour before each performance.
Cloud 9 by Caryl Churchill is a comedy that turns time on its head while challenging audiences and actors alike with its sharp critique of colonialism and Victorian attitudes toward sex and gender. The play’s first act follows a British official’s household in 1880s colonial Africa and shows the salacious proclivities of a tight-laced society. In the second act, the setting shifts to a London park in 1980, and though a century has passed, the characters have aged only 25 years. Played by different actors, the same British official’s family navigates a future where they have lost their repressed sexuality and the world they’ve known.
“Cloud 9 asks us to examine the power structures under which we all live and how and why those structures are created,” explains director Dr. Lisa Quoresimo. “What is delightful is that it does this through the lens of absurd comedy.”
Playwright Caryl Churchill is known for the way she dramatizes abuses of power and explores sexual politics and feminist themes. As recently as 2020, she has been heralded by some as “one of Britain’s greatest poets and innovators for the contemporary stage.” This has earned her work a spot in the repertoire of many theatre programs in higher education.
“The cast, designers, and crew of this show have thrown themselves, heart and soul, into this production,” says Dr. Quoresimo. “This is my favorite play; I’m so excited to finally get to direct it and to see how everyone working on it has fallen in love with it, too.”
Experience the raucous comedy of Cloud 9 by Caryl Churchill on March 8, 10, 11, and 16, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. with a matinee on March 18 at 2:00 p.m. in the Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre. For more information about arts events at SUU, please visit www.suu.edu/arts.
About the College of Performing and Visual Arts
The College of Performing and Visual Arts (CPVA) at Southern Utah University comprises 41 academic programs including liberal arts (BA/BS) and professional (BFA, BM, BMEd) degrees in art, design, dance, filmmaking, music, and theatre. It includes graduate programs in the fields of arts administration (MFA, MA), music education (MME), and music technology (MM). More than 60 full-time faculty and staff are engaged in teaching and mentoring over 900 majors in the College. CPVA presents over 100 performances, lectures, presentations, and exhibitions each year and is affiliated with the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA), Utah Shakespeare Festival, and the Center for Shakespeare Studies. Southern Utah University is an accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Art & Design (NASAD), National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD), National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), and the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST) making SUU the first public university in the state of Utah to be accredited by all four associations. For more information about the College of Performing and Visual Arts, visit www.suu.edu/pva.
Tags: Theatre Arts and Dance College of Performing and Visual Arts