Theater Review—

There Are Any Number Of Good Reasons To Check Out This Psychological Thriller

By Julie Stern

HARTFORD — Billed as a “gripping psychological thriller,” Caryl Churchill’s short drama A Number is a sort of Pinteresque exploration of what might happen if a “mad professor” were given the opportunity to make an indeterminate number of clones of a child.

In a barren, cell-like room, Salter, a father, has separate encounters with three of his adult sons.

There are two gimmicks in use here: each of the sons is named Bernard, because when Salter put the first Bernard into foster care at age four, because the boy had become wild and unmanageable, he had him cloned, in order to reproduce the sweet infant Salter remembered and loved. Unfortunately, the scientist who performed the experiment went on to create some more versions of Bernard without telling Salter.

The second device is the dramatic tour de force of having the same actor — in the case of TheatreWorks Hartford, who is producing the work until July 29, Mark Saturno — take on the appearance and persona of each of the Bernards, without ever leaving the stage. When it is time for one son to depart, the lights go out, jarring music plays, and a minute later we meet the new Bernard, different clothes, different posture, different voice.

Mr Saturno does this very well. When we first see him he is Bernard II, the timid, anxious, dutiful son who was raised to believe himself Salter’s only child. Having just learned the truth, that he is only one of a number of Bernards, and not even the original one, he feels robbed of his personality.

Then Bernard I appears, an embittered thug with murderous plans for revenge on the intruder who stole his place.

Finally we meet Bernard III, a cheerfully sappy school teacher who apologizes for forgetting to bring pictures of his children, and assures the bemused Salter that there must be twenty more of himself out there.

Salter is cryptic in his motives and intentions: (His repetitions and broken-off sentences bring to mind Mamet, as well as Pinter) he makes random threats to “sue somebody” and make a lot of money for all of them, but he also lies to the sons. He swears to Bernard II that he is the original, and the others only copies of him. His account of the way he abused and neglected Bernard I does a lot to explain why the kid was so much trouble, yet Salter takes no responsibility for his behavior.

The closest thing to emotion he shows is his curiosity about Bernard III, searching for some indication of what makes him so happy, as if happiness is an inexplicably foreign concept to Salter- as it is to the others.

Edmond Genest gives a solid performance as this totally unsympathetic character, and many in the audience during a recent performance seemed absolutely riveted.

Personally this is not my favorite kind of theater — to this viewer, sitting through Pinter, Beckett and Mamet is a little bit like being in the dentist’s chair — but they have won a great many prizes, as has Caryl Churchill. Decide for yourself.

(Performances are Tuesday through Saturday evenings and weekend afternoons.

Call 860-567-7838 for details and reservations.)