A Number

A Number is an original work published in 2002 in association with the Royal Court Theatre of London.[1] The play was written during a time of public debate over the ethics of cloning. The cloning of Dolly the sheep, the creation of human embryos at Advanced Cell Technology, and the cloning of a kitten[2] gave rise to controversy concerning possible human cloning.

Bernard 2 discovers that he is actually a clone of his "brother" (Bernard 1), who was sent to a clinical home years before by his father (Salter) after the suicide of his mother, which left him in a constant state of fear and pain. Salter explains that he agreed to a cloning experiment to try again at parenting another version of his son, but, unbeknownst to Salter, the doctors had unethically made several more clones. Salter decides that they should sue the doctors, which soothes the shaken Bernard 2.

In the next scene, angry Bernard 1 visits Salter for the first time since his childhood while Bernard 2 is away. He has learned about the clones, and is furious at his father for doing it. Salter then admits that the clones were meant to give him another chance at raising Bernard, without any of his many parental mistakes. Bernard 1 grows increasingly agitated before threatening to murder Bernard 2.

Later, after Bernard 1 has left, Bernard 2 returns, having met Bernard 1 in the park. He has learned the truth about the situation, and now hates Salter for what he has done. Bernard 2 decides to leave the country for a while, both to get away from Salter and because he fears that Bernard 1 might try to kill him. Salter tries to convince him not to go, or at least to come back soon, but Bernard 2 refuses, saying he needs to go.

Some time later, Bernard 1 returns and tells Salter that he followed and killed Bernard 2 after he left the country. Salter, stricken with grief, demands to know the details, but Bernard 1 refuses to say anything. Bernard 1 then leaves and kills himself, leaving Salter alone. Salter then decides to meet the other clones of his son, starting with the one named Michael Black. Michael, who never knew Salter, is a happily married maths teacher with three children. He is completely undisturbed that he is a clone, and tells Salter that he does not care. Salter demands to know more about him, particularly about something personal and unique, but Michael cannot answer, and Salter is unsatisfied with what Michael can give him.

• Salter: a man in his early sixties. He was married and had one son, named Bernard. His wife committed suicide by throwing herself under a train when their son was only two. Salter attempted to raise their son alone, but was neglectful due to his drinking and the son's issues, and eventually sent his son away. He then has his son cloned, creating Bernard 2, in an attempt to try raising him again and being a better father. A pathological liar, he attempts to hide the truth of what he's done from his sons.
• Bernard (B2): Salter's son, thirty-five, cloned from Bernard 1 to replace him. He is very mild-mannered and emotional.
• Bernard (B1): Salter's son, forty. First and original son of Salter. He was a difficult and disturbed child who was neglected by Salter and then sent away when he was 4. He grew to have an explosive temper and hate Salter for what he did.
• Michael Black: Salter's son, thirty-five. An unauthorized clone of Salter’s first son. He is married with three children, the oldest aged twelve, and is a mathematics teacher.

Churchill gives no stage directions and no indication of a setting for the play. In the 2002 production, the stage was described by one critic as a “bare blank design” with “no relation to domestic realism.” [3] The costumes of the play were as simple as the stage design. Salter always wore a rumpled looking suit, sometimes expensive looking, but sometimes not. The various Bernards usually wore jeans and a T-shirt, but sometimes a sweatshirt.[4]

Ben Brantley of The New York Times described A Number as "stunning" and "a gripping dramatic consideration of what happens to autonomous identity in a world where people can be cloned".[8] James M. Brandon had mixed sentiments in Theatre Journal, arguing that while it "is a wellwritten play—evocative, disturbing, and with more than one surprise—it remains a troubled one that seems, in production, unfinished. " The critic disputed comparisons of the broken dialogue to that of David Mamet and said that "the language here is not nearly as compelling on the stage". However, Brandon praised the final scene as "brilliant" and said that one of its characters "serves as a welcome reminder that it is possible to have an ostensibly normal life", ultimately describing A Number as "one of the more intellectually vital scripts to emerge in the new century" despite shortcomings.[9]

In a 2006 review of a later Churchill work, The Independent's Paul Taylor described the play as one of the best dramas of the new millennium, and as "superbly compressed and economic".[10] After watching a performance featuring John and Lex Shrapnel, Lyn Gardner of The Guardian dubbed the play "[p]unchy, compact and endlessly inquisitive," arguing that it "is no simple warning against the perils of science messing with nature, but a complex and humane study of parental guilt, regret and responsibility and what it really means to be a father or son."[11] Conversely, Jane Shillings of The Telegraph argued, "The highly wrought writing veers at times towards the mannered, leaving a faint sense that the style of Churchill’s play exceeds its substance, and the issue of cloning has lost its urgency".[12] Don Aucoin of The Boston Globe praised the way the playwright "devotes no time to preamble or writerly throat-clearing, but plunges us straightaway into the play’s central dilemma".[13] In the Chicago Tribune, Chris Jones described A Number as "masterfully written".[14]

After seeing a 2020 Bridge Theatre performance, Nick Curtis of Evening Standard argued, "If the background logistics are sketchy – who made the human copies, and why? – the relationships between Salter and his offspring, and their differing reactions to finding that they are not unique, are right on the money. [...] It’s almost exactly an hour long and the ending is abrupt, but Churchill packs more ideas and feeling into that time than most dramatists manage at twice the length."[15] Clive Davis of The Times, however, panned the play as "both too short and too long" after seeing the same performance.[11] Matt Wolf lauded A Number as a "beautiful play", and wrote that it "works not least as a thriller or bit of forensic detection, as Churchill plants clues prompting a reevaluation of the narrative at every turn."[16][9] Arjun Neil Alim of The Independent stated that "Churchill, a political playwright par excellence, tactfully references current events. [...] Are 'Who are you?' and 'What are you made from?' the same question? Churchill’s answer comes in the form of a character who defines himself by his deeds and his loved ones, rather than the circumstances of his birth."[17] Andrzej Lukowski of Time Out called the play a "masterpiece".[8]

Steve Dinneen argued in City A.M. that the work "is remarkable in the way it so gracefully touches upon the great philosophical questions without ever feeling didactic. A Number is no cold thought experiment, but a quiet rumination on human nature". Dineen wrote that Salter's interludes "say as much as an hour’s worth of dialogue".[18] Arifa Akbar of The Guardian said that "Churchill’s linguistic tics – of interruptions and half-finished sentences – create a hyperreal effect and enable Salter’s obfuscation".[14] Richard Pahl of Northwest Herald billed A Number as an "engaging meditation on human cloning, personal identity and the conflicting claims of nature and nurture". Pahl wrote that the work "offers intellectual and emotional depth, and illustrates the ways people rationalize bad behavior and unthinkingly objectify others, including their own flesh and blood. It asks important questions."[15]

Dinneen argued that the play is about "our desire to be unique, for our lives to have meaning, for our imperfect minds and bodies to somehow achieve perfect ends."[18] Pahl wrote that questions asked by the play are, "If we had a do-over, could we atone for our mistakes? What is the value of a human life? What is the source of our individuality?"[15]

A Number was adapted by Caryl Churchill for television, in a co-production between the BBC and HBO Films.[19] Starring Rhys Ifans and Tom Wilkinson, it was broadcast on BBC Two on 10 Sep 2008.[20]

• Review of original British productions
• New York Theater Workshop website for American production
• Guardian review of Royal Court production
• Reviews of the 2006 Sheffield revival
• The New York Times
• A Number at IMDb