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Autodestruct
Burton Taylor Theatre, Tue 13th-Sat 17th March 2001
John Smith is
a laboratory technician who, in 1972, is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
He chooses to spend the last few months of his life culturing and
studying his cancer cells so that, as the technology becomes available
in the future, his DNA can be used to generate clones identical to
himself. Unknown to themselves, these clones are to be used as experimental
organisms to study and understand cancer till its eventual eradication.
The play visits the original John, his first clone in 2050, and the
last clone, born to be cured in cancer-free 2200.
This is not a play of modest ambition: the dialogue touches on the
themes of living life and confronting certain death, on religion,
science and the ethics of experimentation, on personal achievement
and reward. It poses some interesting questions and just manages to
avoid overuse of cliché, though perhaps one mention of the
phrase "playing God" would have sufficed. Clearly, it's
the work of people who have enjoyed putting it together and have given
a lot of thought to the production. Particularly effective are the
choreographed sequences representing the growth of John's cells and
selection of the clone. The actors make excellent use of the intimacy
of the Burton Taylor, which allows even whispers to be heard by the
audience. A special mention should go to Pierre Marcus Dubois, playing
John's brother Tim, for his extremely credible performance.
In the final scenes of the play, John 8th is awarded the Nobel Prize
as the last representative of the clone that cured cancer. At the
same time, it's announced that his cell line will be destroyed, and
one is also left expecting that this last, disease-free John will
accidentally meet a different death, no less brisk than the cancer
which threatened his clonal brothers. The play also seems to be suggesting
something about the futility of striving to attain immortality - in
the final analysis the last John is robbed of identity, even if he
does escape death by cancer. Rewarded the Nobel prize for work that
he did not do, he remains a mediocrity, derided by both his wife and
his colleagues. The play ends with the original John reading the letter
that decides the fate of his cell line; we leave feeling as if we
have just escaped a futuristic nightmare.
Lina Christopoulou,
13 / 3 / 01
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