A Number
eBook - ePub

A Number

  1. 64 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

A Number

About this book

A fascinating meditation on human cloning, personal identity and the conflicting claims of nature and nurture.

Bernard thought he was an only child. One day he learns the shocking truth: he is just one of a number of clones. Together, he and his father confront epic questions of identity, intimacy and belonging.

Caryl Churchill's play A Number pushes the boundaries of science and ethics with an astonishing twist on the dynamics of the father/son relationship. It was originally produced at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2002, winning the Evening Standard Award for Best Play.

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Yes, you can access A Number by Caryl Churchill in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & British Drama. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher
Nick Hern Books
Year
2014
Print ISBN
9781854597434
eBook ISBN
9781780011417
Topic
Literature
Subtopic
British Drama
Index
Literature
1.
SALTER, a man in his early sixties and his son BERNARD (B2), thirty-five.
B2
A number
SALTER
you mean
B2
a number of them, of us, a considerable
SALTER
say
B2
ten, twenty
SALTER
didn’t you ask?
B2
I got the impression
SALTER
why didn’t you ask?
B2
I didn’t think of asking.
SALTER
I can’t think why not, it seems to me it would be the first thing you’d want to know, how far has this thing gone, how many of these things are there?
B2
Good, so if it ever happens to you
SALTER
no you’re right
B2
no it was stupid, it was shock, I’d known for a week before I went to the hospital but it was still
SALTER
it is, I am, the shocking thing is that there are these, not how many but at all
B2
even one
SALTER
exactly, even one, a twin would be a shock
B2
a twin would be a surprise but a number
SALTER
a number any number is a shock.
B2
You said things, these things
SALTER
I said?
B2
you called them things. I think we’ll find they’re people.
SALTER
Yes of course they are, they are of course.
B2
Because I’m one.
SALTER
No.
B2
Yes. Why not? Yes.
SALTER
Because they’re copies
B2
copies? they’re not
SALTER
copies of you which some mad scientist has illegally
B2
how do you know that?
SALTER
I don’t but
B2
what if someone else is the one, the first one, the real one and I’m
SALTER
no because
B2
not that I’m not real which is why I’m saying they’re not things, don’t call them
SALTER
just wait, because I’m your father.
B2
You know that?
SALTER
Of course.
B2
It was all a normal, everything, birth
SALTER
you think I wouldn’t know if I wasn’t your father?
B2
Yes of course I was just for a moment there, but they are all still people like twins are all, quins are all
SALTER
yes I’m sorry
B2
we just happen to have identical be identical identical genetic
SALTER
sorry I said things, I didn’t mean anything by that, it just
B2
no forget it, it’s nothing, it’s
SALTER
because of course for me you’re the
B2
yes I know what you meant, I just, because of course I want them to be things, I do think they’re things, I don’t think they’re, of course I do think they’re them just as much as...

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Contents
  4. Original Production
  5. Characters
  6. A Number
  7. About the Author
  8. Copyright and Performing Rights Information