tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6816366806127608207.post4563070444288589366..comments2024-03-21T22:19:26.920-05:00Comments on A Follow Spot: Quirky and Tart, "Cloud 9" Pushes the Right Buttons at ISUJulieKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12521424567356348282noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6816366806127608207.post-24027187620490804292012-02-24T16:32:28.136-06:002012-02-24T16:32:28.136-06:00In this production, I read it more as "in the...In this production, I read it more as "in the less restrictive 70s, people are more able to be whatever or whoever they want, creating roles for themselves." And I have to say, I was more bothered by the fact that Edward and Victoria are apparently sleeping together (brother and sister) in a threesome with her lover, Lin, than that Edward was kind of effeminate. I know that the roles have been split differently in different productions -- this production matches what I think was the first LA one, with Laurence Guittard -- but the actor who had just played uber-masculine Clive was playing Edward in Act II, which gave the fact that he was not being all macho a different spin. Anyway, Edward seemed sweet and kind and probably the most centered of anyone in the second act. Not swishy or effeminate, really.JulieKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12521424567356348282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6816366806127608207.post-37460629939071755142012-02-24T16:15:53.901-06:002012-02-24T16:15:53.901-06:00I saw Cloud 9 twice, late in the off-Broadway run ...I saw Cloud 9 twice, late in the off-Broadway run and then at Arena Stage (DC). In its odd, challenging way, I thought it had a lot to say about how we define ourselves and interact with each other.<br /><br />I remember after a group went to see it at Arena, some of my gay brethren found some of the characterization in Act II politically objectionable (an effeminate gay man seeing himself as the "wife" in his relationship -- I hope I'm remembering right after all these years). But I thought that was part of Churchill's vision: that after pre-defined roles have been taken away, people are apt to invent roles for themselves anyway, in order to have a clear place in society. The point can certainly be argued (I'm not sure myself how true I think it is), but it's part of the provocative world of this play. Good for ISU for doing it.JAChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10942256334004773509noreply@blogger.com