A Number by Caryl ChurchillMy review
rating: 3 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this play, but once again post-modern literature/drama is not my strongest point.
I liked that Churchill opted to wrestle with the idea of human cloning and what that means in respect to people and their ability to understand. A Number is a two man play, and a story about a father and his sons. I am using the term sons, which is of course debated during the play. Are these "sons" really his sons or are they less his sons because they are clones? Does the man only have one son? If so then what are the others? The first clone, B2, argues that they are human, and of course in the play the clones display more generally accepted "human" characteristics than the father and son. I feel like this is the underlying theme of the play.
The play progresses through lies; the father constantly lies to his sons. To B2, he depicts a history for the clone which doesn't exist. To his own son, he lies about the boy's childhood claiming to be a better father than he actually was. The father was abusive to his son after his wife/the mother kills herself. The boy suffered from problems after the mother dies resulting in the father sending him away. Enter the clones. The father attempts to make his "perfect son." A son with the same DNA as the original.
The original son kills B2, and has a long conversation with his father after where the father takes responsibility for the course of events. The original son also dies; he kills himself. Finally, the second clone is introduced, and he has a successful life unlike the others. The last scene depicts a conversation between the father and the second clone. They talk about the clones happiness. Apologizes are central throughout the play as well. The father apologizes to B2 and his son, and then at the end of the play the second clone apologizes for being happy when the father feels like he has lost everything. The lay actually begins and end with apologizes.
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