A Number

Caryl Churchill’s neat but untidy cloning conversation piece uses the conceit of human cloning as a keenly focused new lens for viewing parent-child relations. In BackStage’s production, played out on scenic designer Angela M. Campos’s claustrophobic, hexagon-shaped stage, Patrick Blashill is nicely understated as a once-failed dad who wanted to scrap it and start over again. Tony Bozzuto sharply differentiates three characters who share the same chromosomes: One is timid and passive, another coldly violent, carefree and confident, each with his own subtly discrete physicality and vocal quality. Director Karen Kessler leaves a bit too much air in each of the play’s five movements; even at one hour the production feels just slightly overinflated.