The Off-Central Players' Ward Smith and Anthony Gervais Team Up as Father and Son(s) in A NUMBER

Producing artistic director Ward Smith begins rehearsals this week for his company's 11th production, Caryl Churchill 's brilliant play, A Number.

Directed by Alan Mohney, Jr. Human cloning is the subject of this beguiling hour-long play that is not so much about the perils of science messing with nature, but a complex and humane study of parental guilt, regret, and responsibility and what it really means to be a father or son.

Having directed their season opening hit Something Clean (which featured Mohney. Jr.) as well as producing the company's follow up dark comedy Vino Veritas, Smith returns to the stage once again in the role of Salter. Joining the cast is The Off-Central Players creative associate Anthony Gervais. Since arriving to the company early last season, Gervais' creative brilliance has shown in his production and performance of the musical: The Last 5 Years, as well as the Haunted Cabaret. Rounding out the creative team is the company's artistic administrator and veteran stage manager, Cat D. Carter making this a truly in -house ensemble production.

The two-man production opens with a father and son (Smith and Gervais, respectively) embroiled in a heated debate. The father, Salter, is furious that a medical institution appears to have surreptitiously cloned his son, and that "a number" of others are now wandering the country, each believing himself to be "the one". At it's very core the play is about our desire to be unique, for our lives to have meaning, for our imperfect minds and bodies to somehow achieve perfect ends, If we had a do-over, could we atone for our mistakes? What is the value of a human life? What is the source of our individuality?

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