‘ The performativity of the dramatic text ’: domestic colonialism and Caryl Churchill's Cloud Nine

Abstract

AbstractThis essay develops from a chapter in my book, Breaking the Bounds: British Feminist Dramatists Writing in the Mainstream since c. 1980. In it, I first consider the theory of ‘the performativity of the dramatic text’ as a method of analysis which leads to an insight into the deeper structures of political texts, and which may aid in conceiving and directing future productions. The theory is then utilized in an analysis of the politics of Caryl Churchill's Cloud Nine. Alternative ways of directing the play are offered, but the general intention is to leave the reading open, as each director of, or actor in, a production of Cloud Nine might use aspects of the analysis to exploit the limitless performativity that is inherent in the text.

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