by Caryl Churchill
German by Falk Richter
German Language premiere
Direction: James Macdonald

At a hospital examination, Bernard – who is in his mid thirties - suddenly encounters a number of people who are his exact mirror image. The clones discover that none of them is the original. In a confrontation with his father Salter, Bernard tries to track down and solve the mystery of his origins.
“A Number” is a family drama in an age of perfected genetic technology. Going much further than debates on Dolly and ethocratic declarations, Churchill lends a new interpretation to the relationship between father and son, the topic of fratricide, and questions of personal identity. She makes use of a drama of omission; we only discover the background and context to the tragedy slowly and gradually. The play examines people’s spiritual and physical inter-changeability, fear of death and the human longing for perfection and eternal life.