"A Number": Three Stars with a Thought Balloon

Mush is right,but don't forget that ‘A Number’ is short, only slightly more than an hour. Just about the time you’re starting to get into the rhythm of Caryl Churchill’s totally thought-provoking drama, out come Josh Charles and Bill Smitrovich to take their bows and the show is over. If you’re expecting Act Two: Don’t.

If you're like The Great Plotnik, you go "Awwwwwww, Wha,(sputter)."

Not that the play isn't great, it is. Charles (pictured above) has the role of a lifetime. He portrays each of three grown sons after they discover they have been cloned by their father (played by Bill Smitrovich, who you keep wanting to sock). Dad did it, but we don't know why, and if we think we're confused, think about each of these kids. One is nervous, one is angry, and the third one...well, there's the rub.

How would you like to discover you have at least 20, secret, identical-twin brothers? As the three try, in turn, to figure out exactly how they fit into the big picture, many questions pop to the surface, such as does a parent have a right to start over with an exact copy of a child who isn’t working out the way he’s supposed to? Is it true that 30% of our genes are the same as lettuce?

This show is tough to rate. If they ever write Act Two, it would have the chance for Four Stars. Critics are gonna love it for sure, but we go for free. Plotnik liked it a lot, but in general he likes dessert with a one-pot meal. So The Great Plotnik Theater Awards Division awards 'A Number' Three Stars with a Thought Balloon. The Thought Balloon says Awwwwwww, Wha,(sputter).