'A Number' explores ethical issues of cloning

By Brittany Benjamin

"There was this girl at the party last night, and I swear that she looked just like you. It could have been your clone!"

We have all heard these words before. Usually we laugh it off, saying that it's physically impossible for that to be true.

But what if duplicates of a singular person could be scientifically created?

In last week's performance of "A Number," this scenario suddenly becomes reality for one son who learns from his father that he is actually a clone.

The production explores the morality and usefulness of cloning through a son's interactions with his father.

Even before the lights had dimmed for the show Thursday night at Fess Parker Studio Theatre, there was a general consensus among fellow audience members as we buzzed about the topic at hand.

"You shouldn't mess with nature," one girl said.

If anything, "A Number" only intensified these thoughts.

Bernard, played by Santa Clara alumnus Robert Campbell, is an average young adult -- that is, until he finds out he is one of 20 copies of a single person.

Maintaining that he was present at Bernard's birth, his father, Salter, initially assures Bernard that there must be some mistake because it was impossible for his son to be a clone.

Yet, after pressuring from Bernard, his father confesses that his son was conceived through in vitro, made in the exact likeness of a brother who died in a car crash along with his mother.

Paralleling the mental processes of the audience members, Bernard then grapples with the fact that he was not an original or unique human being. Rather, he's a copy. As Bernard contemplates his own fake life, we as audience members contemplate the ramifications of being a clone.

What we find is that it takes away our sense of personality or individuality.

Later, it's revealed that Salter lied to his son. His first son never died. In fact, Salter is surprised when his first son (also played by Campbell) barges in to confront him in his own home after being sent away as a child.

"You threw me away and had another one made," he tells his father.

Through their interaction and the remainder of the production, we learn there was no car crash. Bernard's mother actually committed suicide after suffering from depression.

Salter, once an alcoholic, was never around to be a parent for his first son. Thinking he had failed, he sent his son away at four years old and decided to create a new son, in the original's likeness.

While his actions were made with the best intentions in mind for both sons, he learned that by cloning his first son, he ultimately doomed them both.

As writer of "A Number," Caryl Churchill seems to speak to us as audience members on an individual level. Through the complicated muddle of lies and emotions that flood the plot, she directs us on our own path to moral development.

Through the beautiful acting of Campbell, who plays a total of three characters, the audience is forced to face one of these consequences head on.

How can a clone like Bernard find his own identity and place in the world? Moreover, how does Bernard's brother cope, knowing there are 20 other people exactly like him walking the streets?

Each facing this tiring struggle, ultimately both sons pay the ultimate consequences -- their lives.

Another issue Churchill writes in her play falls within the age-old debate of nature vs. nurture.

While both sons in Churchill's play have the exact same DNA, they craft two entirely different personalities.

The older son, growing up in an environment of alcoholism and depression, turns into a troubled, violent adult. The younger son, supported by an overprotective father, grows into a timid and quiet adult.

Only a fictional play, "A Number" forces audience members to ponder the consequences if cloning became a reality. How would the relationship between nature and nurture affect the adults these clones turn into?

While the development of human cloning is still currently in early scientific developments in real life, it could potentially become a reality. One day it might be possible for humans to clone themselves.

Would I ever want to see another me on the streets?

No, thanks. I think one is enough.

Contact Brittany Benjamin at (408) 551-1918 or brbenjamin@scu.edu.