Cloud Nine | Literary Criticism & Book Review

Cloud Nine Critical Overview

When Cloud Nine was first produced in England in 1979, it was a commercial success, establishing Churchill as a leading British playwright. However, critics were divided as to the merits of the play. Robert Cushman in the Observer (quoted in Plays in Review) described the second act as "almost the best thing to arrive in the London theatre this young and dismal year." And John Barber's verdict in the Daily Telegraph (quoted by Erica Beth Weintraub in Dictionary of Literary Biography) was also positive; Barber described it as "cheerfully entangling itself in the problems of fitting complex human instincts into workable social patterns." But a different view was taken by J. C. Trewin of the Birmingham Post, who expressed puzzlement about the play's themes. Whether the play was "a treatise on bisexuality" or "a view of parents and children," Trewin regarded it as "superfluous." He argued that the...
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