Christopher Walker reviews A Number by Caryl Churchill

A Number at the Old Vic Theatre is a successful and stylish revival of Caryl Churchill’s play.

It is carried by the strong performances of the two leads – Lennie James and Paapa Essiedu.

They help the audience through the somewhat bumpy writing, which hints at dilemmas but offers few insights.

Caryl Churchill has gone from being young firebrand to national treasure.

Her greatest plays were during her heyday at The Royal Court Theatre. Cloud 9 (1979), Top Girls (1982) and Serious Money (1987).

Though 83, she is a firm favourite with producers and still dominates London theatre.

Not all revivals of her work are successful.

Churchill makes her audiences work for their entertainment, and her plays are often rooted in time.

This is certainly true of A Number, which also debuted at the Royal Court, some twenty years ago.

Its subject matter is human cloning, which was very much a hot topic then.

The country had been amazed by the cloning of ‘Dolly the sheep,’ then by a cloned kitten, and finally by the creation of human embryos using advanced cell technology.

These all posed potentially enormous ethical dilemmas in a world whose future might contain “a number” of copies of a real person.

This is the background to the play, and to its central questions, all of which somehow seem a lot less urgent now.

It is worth detailing the plot, as it is extremely confusing to newcomers.

It concerns the encounters between a father (Salter, played by Lennie James) and his sons, one ‘real’ and two cloned – Bs 1 and 2, and ‘Michael Black.’

All of them are portrayed by Paapa Essiedu (from Gangs of London).

We are plunged into the action immediately with B2 confronting his father Salter over his discovery that he is himself a clone.

Salter explains that he agreed to a cloning experiment after his first son (B1) died with his mother in a car crash.

But that he agreed to only one clone – the doctors have unethically made several more clones.

Just when you have grasped all this, it turns out to be a pack of lies.

B1 never died in a car crash but was put in a home by Salter after his wife committed suicide.

B1 also comes back to confront Salter, because he’s discovered the existence of the other clones.

Rather bizarrely Salter suggests he had them made to improve on his parenting skills. Not the most convincing plot twist.

There’s a lot that happens between B1 and 2, necessarily off stage since an overworked Paapa is playing both of them.

In the final scene Salter meets one of the other clones Michael Black (Paapa again) at a gallery.

Whereas B1 and 2 were seemingly suffering from PTSD, Michael is hugely unconcerned with the fact he’s a clone, and proudly shows Salter a snap of his three kids.

Somehow, however, Salter finds him ‘unreal.’ Refusing to reveal any details of his personal character.

Confusing, right? All of this comes across as a series of related nightmares rather than a coherent set of dramatic events.

It is a huge tribute to the considerable skills of Lennie James and Paapa Essiedu that they bring it to life with two outstanding performances.

Paapa has a bag full of stage tricks which he distributes liberally, no doubt helped by Lyndsey Turner’s firm direction.

This is a stylish production with the talented Es Devlin producing an entirely scarlet set by.

I’m not quite sure why. And to add to the sense of dystopia, Tim Lutkin’s lighting flashes like a bomb going off between scenes (you have been warned).

For tickets go to https://www.oldvictheatre.com/whats-on

 

Main Picture:  Lenny James (left) and Paapa Essiedu in A Number at The Old Vic