When Cloud 9 opened in 1979 most audience members probably tended to think of gender as a black and white thing—you're either male or female, case closed. But in this play, Churchill offers up the idea that maybe gender isn't based on biology at all. Maybe gender is just a type of performance that each of us gives every day of our lives because we figure that's what we're supposed to do.
Even for today's audiences, Cloud 9 is pretty nuts. When the curtain opens to a lot of people cross-dressing, that's pretty much a sure sign that the next couple of hours are going to be spent bending the notion of gender.
Questions About Gender
- Do you agree with Churchill's suggestion that gender is based more on social performance than on biology? Why or why not?
- Is anyone ever to blame in this play for thinking rigidly about gender (e.g. Clive, Betty), or can they be forgiven because they simply hold the values that society has taught them?
- Is Churchill's strategy of using cross-dressing effective at making you think about gender roles with a more open mind? Why or why not?
Chew on This
In Cloud 9, Churchill uses cross-dressing to show us that there's no escaping your gender. You're born either male or female and you're just going to have to deal with it.
In Cloud 9, Churchill shows us that gender is a spectrum; it's only society's rigid expectations that have created the idea of gender as an either/or binary.