A Number

By Caryl Churchill

Rating

Royal Court Theatre, London, until 16 November 2002 www.royalcourttheatre.com/

How would it feel to find out that one is a clone? What would this knowledge do to one's sense of self and relationship to others, especially the other clone? This is this play's principal subject and it is handled in a creative and mostly fascinating manner.

Cloning as a subject is both a benefit and a burden. It's hot. And many of those who chose to treat it in dramatic form have got burned in the process. Eva Hoffman's novel The Secret is but one disappointing example of works that sink beneath the weight of contorted scientific exposition, moral conceits, and characters who exist merely …