Cloud Nine: characters

Cloud Nine: characters

Major Characters

Clive:

Clive is the central character in Act 1, a white coloniser living in Victorian Africa.
Represents the patriarchal authority of the time, efficiently upholding societal norms of gender and race.
Clive’s character is used by Churchill to critique the oppressive colonial systems of power and control.

Betty (Adult):

Betty, Clive’s wife, is played by a man in Act 1 and by a woman in Act 2.
The change in performers illuminates the fluidity of gender, a crucial theme throughout the play.
In Act 2, Betty constructs an identity independent of societal expectations, manifesting Churchill’s feminist ideals.

Edward (Child):

Clive and Betty’s son, Edward, is played by a woman in Act 1 and a man in Act 2.
Edward symbolises the suppression of his true sexual identity due to societal constraints.
In Act 2, Edward embraces his homosexuality, showing Churchill’s representation of liberating suppressed identities.

Minor Characters

Joshua:

A black native character performed by a white actor, Joshua serves as the ‘notice-boy’ to Clive.
The cross-racial casting choice exposes the constructed nature of racial identities.
His eventual betrayal towards Clive indicates a shift from colonial control and servitude.

Ellen:

Ellen is the governess to Edward and Victoria; she is secretly in love with Betty.
Her character provides insight into the struggles of hidden homosexuality in a homophobic society.

Maud:

Maud is Betty’s mother and represents a traditional, old-fashioned view on family, marriage, and women’s roles.
Her character is used to highlight and critique Victorian gender expectations and norms.

Gerry:

Gerry is Edward’s lover in Act 2, whose promiscuity counteracts the notion of a monogamous homosexual relationship.
Through Gerry’s character, Churchill challenges societal assumptions of homosexuality as well as traditional relationship dynamics.

Victoria:

Victoria is Clive and Betty’s daughter, who is represented by a doll in Act 1.
The choice to symbolise Victoria with an inanimate object underscores the insignificance of women in the patriarchal society.
In Act 2, she breaks out of her conventional marriage, reflecting Betty’s journey towards independence.

Lin & Cathy:

Introduced in Act 2, Lin is a single mother living with her daughter, Cathy.
Lin’s character explores the struggles and prejudices faced by single mothers.
Cathy, who chooses to identify as a male, signifies the gender-bending narrative of the play, further highlighting the fluidity of identities.