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Synopsis A father is confronted by his adult son. And then by another, identical to the first. But are the pair twins, or the outcome of an extraordinary scientific experiment? Which is the real child, and which is merely one of 'a number', cloned from the original? And how many more might be out there? This play contains strong language. Downstairs
Caryl Churchill's plays are often a mystery, sooner to be puzzled over than necessarily solved. The most formally adventurous of our playwrights, she stands next to Harold Pinter in the meticulous sense of otherness she creates around her characters, where what they say is not necessarily what you get, or means what they say. And as often in Pinter, there are tense, terse family relationships at play.
In her latest piece, A Number, comprising five short scenes in less than an hour's running time, we observe the encounters between two men: an older man in a crumpled suit, a younger man in white t-shirt and jeans. The younger man is his son. Or rather, sons.
But Daniel Craig, playing them, doesn't differentiate in dress and only in accent for the third of them; meanwhile, you have to figure this out for yourself (on press night, they weren't selling copies of the programme script until after the show, so you would have had to grasp this entirely for yourself).
Skip this paragraph if you want to maintain the complete air of cloaked mystery, but it turns out that the boys have been cut from the same cloth, so to speak. Not merely do they share the same father but, thanks to some unspecified act of genetic engineering, they have been cloned of each other. Now, separately, they're meeting papa again.
As the father is played with a brooding sense of pain and unresolved emotions by the always utterly compelling Michael Gambon, there's an irresistible fascination to the interplay between him and his sons, two of them conflicted, one uncomplicated. Craig - currently to be found in the role of another pivotal son in Sam Mendes' film The Road to Perdition - is terrific, too, in his several roles.
Stephen Daldry's stark, spare production - played out on a parquet-floor platform that's bare except for two non-descript chairs and a small table - distils a short, strange play into a compelling one.
I wouldn't agree that this play was difficult to follow, even without a programme. There are two superb performances, due credit to Daniel Craig for his three turns, while Gambon is mesmerising. A very interesting, gripping piece of work. Recommended. - USER: Whatsonstage.com
04 Nov 02
The play could go deeper, and some of the transitions are abrupt, but the subject is fascinating and the performances are eminently watchable. At 65 minutes, "A Number" may be 15 minutes too short, but after suffering through the nine-hour "The Coast of Utopia," I can think of no higher praise. - USER: Whatsonstage.com
16 Oct 02
Touching, tender, gripping, thought-provoking, unexpectedly funny - 'A Number' is all of these. Great performances from Daniel Craig and Michael Gambon... marred by the stupid audience members behind me and their noisy sweet wrappers and the idiot in the Stalls who forgot to turn their mobile phone off. It's unforgiveable, quite frankly, and it's a credit to the performers that they didn't stop the play. Andrew B - USER: Whatsonstage.com
08 Oct 02
Remarkable acting and a striking play more about the perils of a father/son relationship than the dangers of cloning. Also, at 65 minutes, Caryl Churchill shows that you did not need to write a full length play to make your point. If only other dramatists would follow her example. - USER: Whatsonstage.com
28 Sep 02
Wonderful wonderful play. Happy sad and very thought provoking. I went last night as a part of the Whatsonstage.com group, got to see superb actors up close and chatted with Stephen Daldry at a private function after the show. Great play and a great website. Thank you. - USER: Whatsonstage.com
The first theatre opened as The New Chelsea on 16 Apr 1870. Changed name to Belgravia. Re-opened as Royal Court 25 Jan 1871. Demolished in 1887. New theatre opened (current, slightly different site) 24 Sep 1888. Famous for supporting and commissioning new writing. Probably the first UK Theatre to regularly include their URL in advertising. Member of the Society of London Theatre. In 1996 the theatre closed for redevelopment, funded by the National Lottery. The refurbished theatre at Sloane Square re-opened in February 2000 including two theatres the 389 seat Jerwood Theatre Downstairs and the studio style Jerwood Theatre Upstairs.
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