Review: ‘A Number’ at Odyssey Theatre
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A father and a son meet for the first time. The adult son wants to know how he came to be. A tricky story, as he was conceived in petri dish -- along with many others. This son is only one in “A Number,” Caryl Churchill’s taut reckoning between Salter (John Heard) and the clones of his only child (Steve Cell), now receiving its L.A. premiere at the Odyssey Theatre.
An elliptical drama told in five brief scenes, the story feels both futuristic and ancient: This is Oedipus hanging with dad, Cain bitching about Abel, parents and children rewriting history. The sons share the same DNA, but each is a distinct self. Until they learn about one another. As one offspring puts it, “If that’s me over there, who am I?”
The play’s eerie mood is strikingly evoked by set designer Christopher Kuhl’s living room that seems to float in the theater’s hollow black box — an unadorned, masculine space of wood and leather, suspended in a no-man’s land. And with its halting dialogue, ambiguous relationships and unspoken sense of menace, “A Number” finds Churchill in a Pinteresque mode. Like the late master Harold, she is a droll and minute observer of the fiercest human qualities: need, hate, self-justification. And at 65 minutes, director Bart DeLorenzo’s production is one of the most efficient pieces of stagecraft you’ll see this season: smart, brutal, and ultimately a bit of a tease. Whatever you make of it, the sheer intelligence of Churchill’s writing makes this a must-see for anyone who cares about plays.
“A Number” has a translucent quality that reflects the actors playing it. In London, Michael Gambon and Daniel Craig’s physical charisma set the tone. In New York, Sam Shepard and Dallas Roberts made for a diffident, almost autistic pairing. Here the vibe is energetic but evasive. Cell, rangy and on edge as three different sons, supplies the momentum and emotional shifts. His characters are both clear and maddeningly out of reach. Heard, playing a broken man, is less declared: He shrugs off responsibility even as he verbally accepts it. Salter hoped science would save him. But our brave new world comes with all the oldest aches.
-- Charlotte Stoudt
“A Number,” Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays (May 17 and 31, June 7); 7 p.m. Sundays (May 24, June 14 and 21). Ends June 21. $15 to $30. (310) 477-2055. Running time: 65 minutes.
Caption: Steve Cell, left, and John Heard in ‘A Number.’ Credit: Enci