Cloud 9, a provocative and amusing study of sexual politics, will be presented by Coastal Carolina University Theater as part of the university's 2001-2002 Cultural Arts Series. Performances are scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 27, Thursday, Feb. 28, Friday, March 1 and Saturday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 3 at 3 p.m. in the Edwards Theater. Admission is $10, $5 for students under the age of 18.

Written in 1978 by British playwright Caryl Churchill, Cloud 9 is about relationships - between women and men, men and men, women and women. "It is also about sex, work, mothers, Africa, power, children, grandmothers, politics, money and Queen Victoria," says Sandi Shackelford, professor of theater at Coastal and director of the play.

The first act, set in 19th-century colonial Africa, introduces Clive, an administrator for the British crown, his wife Betty (played by a man), and their family and hangers-on. Although the characters seem properly British and very Victorian, sexual confusion and philandering seethe beneath the surface. The second act presents the same family in 1979. Attitudes toward gender and sexuality are now discussed openly, but the confusion has not lessened.

The production's set design is by Tymberley Wittrig, assistant professor of theater. The cast and crew, all Coastal students, includes Julia Burgoyne of Aynor, Ryan Buttimer of Foxboro, Mass., Jennifer Greer of Prospect, Ky., Matt McCarty of Surfside Beach, Jennifer Paine of North Myrtle Beach, Dave Thomas of Charleston, Rachel Vidovich of Shamong, N.J., Ann Winnard of Moore and Molly Zimmerman of Evansville, Wis.

Cloud 9 contains some strong language and adult situations and is not suitable for all audiences.

For more information, contact the Wheelwright Box Office at 349-2502.