A Number

This week’s play, A Number by Caryl Churchill, was very interesting. It dealt with the issue of cloning. There are only four characters in the play and three of them are clones played by the same actor. However, what is really interesting is the style in which the play was written. The play is written entirely in dialogue. There are scenes, but no descriptions of scene changes or even a description of the scene itself beyond the fact that every scene occurs in the same area. Character descriptions are limited as well. We are given the ages of them, but we do not know anything else beyond the fact that three of them are the same person.

I think that the author chose to write her play this way so that it would be timeless. Because the issue of cloning and the advances of technology are still debated about, the author decided to leave everything blank so that we could fill in the blanks with information that is pertains to our time. Reading through the play, I picture Michael as a typical teacher: an average guy wearing a shirt, tie, sweater vest, and slacks. This image may change if I move forward ten years. By keeping out “unnecessary” details, the author allows us to add our own details and make it more meaningful to ourselves.

Leaving the characters blank severely limits their actions in the play. They only seem to talk. In fact, the author is so dedicated to allowing us to interpret the play however we want that she even leaves out punctuation. This makes reading the play very difficult. However, it allows you to decide how characters react to information. If you were to perform this play you could make them move or sound in whatever way you felt was appropriate. You could have them just standing and having a conversation or you could have them running around yelling at each other. The author seems to emphasize that it is your choice.