The actors in “Cloud 9? in University Park are being challenged through the casting required by playwright Caryl Churchill.
This includes adults portraying children, a man playing the role of a woman and a white actor portraying a Black servant.
“My concern was that we would have had perhaps some challenges in getting the cast up to speed with this material, but they have really embraced it,” said Patrick Santoro, director of “Cloud 9.”
“They understand why Churchill has written it in the way she has. They understand what parallels the work they’ve been doing in Theatre and Performance Studies for the last decade so these type of issues can be discussed in a meaningful way.
“That said, I do think some were reluctant to audition and didn’t as a result. Hopefully those students will be in the audience and see something different than they might have encountered in just reading or seeing a quick description of the play.”
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“Cloud 9,” which runs Nov. 3-6 at Governors State University’s Center for Performing Arts, includes Maya Shelton, a graduate of the Theatre and Performance Studies program, along with students, a staff member and community members.
The play is set during the Victorian era in the British colonies in Africa and later in 1980 London.
“It’s about British colonial rule in 1880s Africa and is about colonialism, which is what happens when outside forces come in and take a country’s cultures and traditions and decimate them and in the process kill the people who are working hard to maintain their culture and traditions,” Santoro said.
“The first act of ‘Cloud 9’ looks at this British family in Africa and their relationship to the local Africans. The second act of ‘Cloud 9′ is 100 years later but only 25 years later in the characters’ lives. It’s in this act where we see the damage of colonialism.
“We see the British Empire and its rules for gender and sexuality and how people are after living through the effects of that. We still feel those effects even here in the U.S. in the 21st century in how we deal with the brokenness and the damage that has been done by these rigid ideals that the Victorians had.”
The show, which includes explicit language and mature themes, was first performed in 1979 in England.
“I’ve admired and respected ‘Cloud 9’ for as long as I can remember. I’ve been saving it until the right moment. This feels like the right moment. When Russia invaded Ukraine, for example, I could see the themes of Churchill’s play quite vividly,” said Santoro of Chicago.
“I could see a country from the outside coming in and taking control of another country and the effect that has on the people of that country including death.
“I’ve also been thinking about when the U.S. pulled its troops out of Afghanistan. We again saw the effect of military presence pulling out of a country, what remains for that country and how that country is left to pick up the pieces.”
Other plays by Churchill include “Top Girls,” “Serious Money,” “Blue Heart,” “Far Away” and “A Number.”
“Churchill is considered a feminist playwright. She was a trailblazer in creating unique experiences for the audience,” said Santoro, a Governors State University associate professor who is teaching a Research Methods course and Writing as Performance this semester.
“That can be seen in ‘Cloud 9’ by her clever casting choices, which she requires that you honor when you do this show. That helps to set up for the audience an interesting critique,” Santoro said.
“‘Cloud 9’ is a comedy but it’s a comedy with consciousness raising. It’s a challenging show because she’s putting on display the things about our current culture that are difficult to address, that were difficult to address in the ’70s, that have been difficult to address since then.”
Santoro, who is also artistic director of Theatre and Performance Studies, noted that “Cloud 9? aligns with the major described as equipping students to be “a transformative agent of social, cultural, political and personal change.”
“We are committed to creating theatrical experiences where audiences can engage with us and think through complicated complex ideas via our shows and talkback experiences as well as students and courses also investigating similar kinds of work,” he said.
‘Cloud 9’
When: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 3-5; 2 p.m. Nov. 6
Where: Governors State University’s Center for Performing Arts, 1 University Parkway, University Park
Tickets: $15
Information: 708-235-2222; govst.edu/about/center_for_performing_arts
Jessi Virtusio is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
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