Fragmented Identities and Ethical Dilemmas:

This paper examines Caryl Churchill’s 2002 play A Number as the latest in her series of identity plays, showing how the playwright uses the lens of human cloning to place questions of identity within a wider context of political, professional, and medical ethics. Moving on from the introverted dual personalities of Identical Twins and the identity-in-performance emphasis in Icecream , A Number offers a threatening vision of unrestricted and even illegal cloning as it might affect the man-in-the-street. Such a gothic scenario is heightened by Churchill’s fashioning of the central character as a pathological liar, not only making it difficult for the audience to piece together the facts, but also illustrating the dangers of the human cloning operating within a moral vacuum. Reflecting on a viewing of the 2015 production in the Young Vic, London, the study foregrounds how this dystopian play about the human condition has enabled Churchill to question the ethics and legalities of unrestricted technological progress.