Before you venture to see Duke Players' production of Caryl Churchill's Cloud 9, you may want to throw your preconceived notions regarding sex, gender, class and race out the window.
Almost from the get-go, the show's racy dialogue is spiced with double-entendres and a hint of the profane. Provincially minded theatergoers beware--Cloud 9 is a witty, irreverent curiosity of a play that examines the dynamics of a single family within two distinct time periods and settings.
The first act takes place in 19th-century British Colonial Africa while the second act unfolds in a more familiar 21st-century American city. In addition to the jumps in time and place between acts, the cast of eight actors also flip-flop their status within the family-half of them going so far as to swap genders. By skewering what most would deem "normative" social expectations, hypocrisy is crowned truth and history is rewritten with tongue planted firmly in cheek.
Professor Jeff Storer demonstrates his skill as a director through his creative casting and delicate balance between the ridiculous and the relatable. However, the genuine glue that holds this topsy-turvy farce together is the glorious set design of Jan Chambers, the masterful lighting of Jesse Belsky, the story-book perfect costumes of Kay Webb and the sharp, exuberant performances delivered by the entire cast. If a breath of fresh air is what you are in search for this stifling, then Cloud 9 is definitely worth a look.
The play runs through Nov. 2 at Reynolds Theater in the Bryan Center. See calendar below for showtimes and ticket prices.
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