Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.
Exposition (Initial Situation)
All in the Family
Caryl Churchill knows how to write herself a solid, structured play. When it comes to exposition, she just does things the old-fashioned way and gets everyone onstage to sing about who they are and what their whole deal is. This is the only old-fashioned thing about this play, mind you.
The play begins with Clive, who sings about being the father (and therefore leader) of his family. One by one, his other family members chime in and talk about themselves, and from the very first lines, we can tell that Churchill is setting up a very traditional, patriarchal British family that's living in colonial Africa and exploiting and controlling the local people.
Rising Action (Conflict, Complication)
Trouble with the Locals and Sex Everywhere
If you like plays with straightforward, simple conflicts, then maybe Cloud 9 isn't right for you. If you like tons of nutso conflicts, though, maybe Cloud 9 is very, very right for you.
Moving forward from the initial exposition, Churchill shows us quickly that the real world is very different from the one Clive thinks he's living in. First of all, his wife loves another man named Harry Bagley (Clive's best friend). Second, Harry also likes to have sex with young boys, including Clive's adopted son Joshua and his biological son, Edward. And did we mention that Clive himself likes to have sex with a neighbor named Mrs. Saunders?
On top of all that, the local African tribes have decided that they're not too satisfied with British people ruling over them. Huh. Wonder why? Clive actually wonders why, because he thinks he's done so much by trying to make them civilized!
Climax (Crisis, Turning Point)
Uhhhh…
We could make a climax joke here (seeing as how this play is as full of wild sexytimes as Game of Thrones), but we're gonna be classy and abstain.
There are actually climaxes in each of the two acts. In Act 1, the climax comes at the wedding of Harry Bagley and Ellen the governess. Just as Clive gets up to give a speech about the bride and groom, his adopted son Joshua raises a gun to shoot him. Clive's other son Edward covers his ears and we all wait for the gunshot, but the lights go down before anything happens. We don't know whether Joshua has pulled the trigger.
In Act 2, the climax comes when Clive comes onstage to confront Betty about the fact that she has left him and is now inviting random men over to her place for dinner. Clive says that Betty is not "that kind of woman. " Throughout this entire play, Betty has done everything she can to make men like her. She has also been terrified of the idea of living by herself without the protections of a man, so Clive's confronting her is a big deal.
Falling Action
Master Debater
In the end, Betty is able to accept herself for who she is and reject Clive as an overbearing, misogynistic jerk. She's also able to overcome traditional gender morals by admitting that she likes to masturbate and that she hopes sex will continue to be a part of her life.
Resolution (Denouement)
Self Hug
When Clive finally leaves the stage, Betty is left alone sitting in a park. Then another version of herself shows up. It's the younger Betty from Act 1 in the play (who is played by a man). After looking at each other for a moment, the two Bettys embrace. The moment seems to symbolize that fact that Betty has finally taken control of her own life and has learned to accept herself for who she really is, and not just for what men want her to be.