[Act One of Caryl Churchill's Cloud 9 is] a dizzying and delectable farce….

Her emphasis is on both "white" and "man"—on race and sex, though particularly on the latter. From the first scene, Churchill … is clearly intent on upsetting our preconceptions about both. (p. 564)

By mismatching the performers with their stage roles, Churchill underscores the artificiality and conventionality of the characters' sex roles. A clever theatrical idea thus serves a dramatic purpose, and the sexual shenanigans that result give rise to more than just the predictable cheap laughs…. [When] the timid Edward finally shows some spunk by dressing down Joshua, his mother cheers …, while we are plunged into a jungle of conflicting feelings about what it means for a "boy" (with the quotation marks very much supplied by the casting) to become a man, when masculinity is defined in terms of sexual as well as racial superiority.

We...