Cloud nine

Written in 1978, 'Cloud Nine' was first performed at Dartington College of Arts, Devon, on 14 February 1979. The two acts form a contrapuntal structure and the play uses controversial portrayals of sexuality and obscene language to establish a parallel between colonial and sexual oppression. Its humour depends on incongruity and the carnivalesque, and helps to convey Churchill's political message about accepting people who are different and not dominating them or forcing them into particular social roles.