Cloud Nine

When Caryl Churchill’s Cloud Nine was written and produced in the late ’70s, it was meant to titillate and shock with its overt sexual themes and language. All these years later, it still does. In a storyline that starts in British colonial Africa and ends in a London park in 1980, it presents a whole cornucopia of social, sexual and gender taboos with a comedic bent that has tongues firmly planted in cheeks.

This is a daring offering for Falcon’s Eye Theatre up at Folsom Lake College, and comes with a warning: It’s not a production for those who might get the vapors upon hearing lewd language and all things carnal. Turns out David Williams, the dean of performing arts, wrote his dissertation on the original Cloud Nine, so even a recent rival by Sacramento’s Big Idea Theatre did not thwart the college from staging another production.

And the decision was a wise one, with the winning combination of a fascinating play, flawless performances by a wonderful team of talented and very versatile actors under the careful guidance of director Christine Nicholson, and Folsom Lake’s usual creative production decisions.

The only weakness lies in the play itself. Though the first act has a compelling and comedic storyline, the play fades a bit in the second half with the abrupt change in era, genre and pace, with a flat plot and titillations that feel forced.