CLOUD 9 by Caryl Churchill, directed by John Heckel, with Tisha Sloane, Sarah Daum, Erik Rhea, Missy Hopper, Katherine Bickford, Calder Johnson and Alex Gradine, will be performed at 7:30 PM Thursday through Saturday, February 22-24, and March 1-3 in Gist Hall Theatre. $10 general, $8 seniors/students, with limited free seating for HSU students. For mature audiences. An HSU Department of Theatre Film & Dance production. Tickets: 826-3928. Information: http://cloud9hsu.blogspot.com/
"I'd always been fascinated with this play," director John Heckel says, "going back 25 years or so."
While Act I in Churchill's script and in the HSU production is set in late nineteenth century Africa, Heckel had to decide whether to keep the Act II period of 1970s/80s London. He changed a few references to make it contemporary to today. "The only change I made in the script was to substitute Baghdad and Iraq for Belfast and Northern Ireland."
He did this on the assumption that the fundamental issues are the same. "The arguments have gotten more complicated, but otherwise I thought the play really does a remarkable job addressing the issues of gender and sexuality of today."
Issues of racism, sexuality and their relationship to political power are also interwoven themes. "With Churchill, there's this funny, stylized, very theatrical surface, but underneath there are primal expressions of what we continue to do to each other through the generations."
Audiences should relate to the action and attitudes and "the generational issues in the play," Heckel feels. Though there is strong language, sexual situations and the proviso of 'For Mature Audiences,' "It's the work of a mainstream playwright. This isn't obscure."