News Article
Director’s Preview: Copenhagen
29 Feb 24
What attracted you to directing this particular play?
Michael Frayn’s farce Noises Off was one of the first plays I saw. I remember thinking it was very silly but very funny. And whilst I wouldn’t usually go down the route of putting on a play I’ve seen, I saw Copenhagen’s original run at the National Theatre and, aside from the sharp wit and theatrical innovation, I could barely believe it was by the same playwright. I had no idea what the characters were talking about when it came to the atomic physics side of things but the play was utterly engrossing.
Now, (ahem!) years later, the physics still baffles me but the exploration of the consequences of choices made by others and where loyalties lie that affect us all as much today, if not more, is compelling to me and certainly worth spending an evening looking at.
What themes does the play explore?
It’s an exhilaratingly engaging exploration of scientific discovery, moral responsibility, and the dynamics of human relationships. At a time where science, ethics, and global politics are as ever occupying the zeitgeist, its blend of history, quantum mechanics, and personal drama is timelessly fascinating. For my money, it’s a hell of a lot more entertaining than Oppenheimer, too.
Tell us about the characters we'll meet.
Neils Bohr (Randy Brown) was a Nobel prize winning Danish physicist working at the beginning of the twentieth century. His wife Margrethe (Caroline Doyle) was his confidant, his collaborator and transcriber of his work. Bohr was academic advisor to protégé Werner Heisenberg (Ed Reeve), a similarly prolific German atomic physicist. When the Nazis came to power and Hitler commenced invasion and occupation of Europe, nationalities became more significant, and the exploration of theoretical physics took on a darker purpose.
The play has been described as ambitious and fiercely intelligent - what kind of directing challenge has this presented to you?
The most important factor in presenting the play to me is to not over layer anything. It needs to be theatre in its purest form – actors (and I’ve been blessed with an incredible cast), light it so you can see what they’re doing, and that’s about it. Transporting the audience from some kind of ethereal afterlife to Nazi-occupied Copenhagen to war-torn Germany and a sailing boat on Øresund is all in their hands.
Sum up the play in three words?
Schrödinger’s cat lives?
