In his prize-winning play, Copenhagen, England’s popular comic playwright Michael Frayn
(author of Noises Off) turned to
physics to examine more literally earth-shaking matter and perhaps provide a
cathartic examination of the most horrific human conflict. In fact, Frayn
turned to history, and his “science-play” struggles mightily to arrive at a
humanistic conclusion. Wordier than a Shaw play and close to pretentious, Copenhagen is spellbinding through
masterful dramaturgy; and Geva Theater’s current production holds the audience
enthralled with superb theatricality.
In a
fictional limbo, Frayn gathers his three protagonists after their lives are
over and has them try to recall and analyze what they did and said and meant.
They are real and terribly important historical figures, but as they repeatedly
return to the same history, they reinterpret and re-evaluate it. Niels Henrik
David Bohr, a Dane, and his younger German friend and protégé, Werner Karl
Heisenberg, were two of the 20th century’s greatest physicists. Both worked on
atomic fission.
We
know that Heisenberg, virtually the head of German atomic science during World
War II, visited his beloved mentor Bohr in Copenhagen in 1941, and that after
their brief reunion and a private discussion, they did not speak to each other
again. Why Heisenberg made that trip and what was said remained mysterious and
disputed in the accounts of both men and what their colleagues remember.
Apparently,
they did discuss the possibility of using atomic fission to create a terrible
weapon. Heisenberg later worked on creating a German one. Bohr escaped from
Nazi-occupied Denmark and worked in the United States on the bomb that was
dropped on Nagasaki. The play keeps returning to Heisenberg’s 1941 visit to
Bohr’s house, and to significant recollected moments in the lives of both men.
The
third character, Bohr’s wife Margrethe, was not trained in physics. But — a
brilliant woman, her husband’s confidant, transcriber of all his notes and
writings, and close friend to his colleagues — she probably understood more
about these concerns than most physicists.
So
Frayn has these three try to work out what they thought and felt, and then
re-examine what they should have thought and felt, to answer basic questions about their relationships and roles
in the history of the creation of the atomic bomb. Their interplay of memory
and conflicts parallels Bohr’s quantum mechanics, in large measure, and
Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, I guess.
Andrew
Lieberman’s set of shiny metal circles and circular benches, and Michael Donald
Edwards’ staging of the three actors in shifting orbits within those circles,
resemble an atomic model that reflects the play’s volatile arguments. But, for
me, the central image isn’t graphically presented. It is the city of the play’s
title, my favorite city, a virtual symbol of civilized decency and beauty. Even
in their afterlife, as they return to debate and revisit their lives and
thoughts, the Bohrs and Heisenberg are basically returning to Bohr’s house and
the surrounding walks in that city that they loved. And the play’s hopeful,
imaginary conclusion is a peaceful return to humane goodwill after all those
horrors, such as Copenhagen itself remained, even in occupation, during and
after World War II.
Geva’s
splendid production is the same that Edwards staged at Syracuse Stage last
season: Lieberman’s set, stunning in Les Dickert’s lighting, Kaye Voyce’s
appropriate costumes, and Jonathan Herter’s arresting, stark sound design.
But
the cast is new and would be hard to improve upon. Despite having played the
role before, Robert Grossman had some shaky moments with dialogue on opening
night, but his fatherly Bohr is empathetic and authoritative. Pat Nesbit seems
intellectually and emotionally equal to the role of Margrethe, who provides not
only a defining synthesis for the men’s oppositions but also an admirable
balance between affection and angry distrust toward Heisenberg.
Christopher
Gurr’s mesmerizing Heisenberg is a boyish, middle-aged genius, American in
speech and manner, driven by passionate energy that is only partly
intellectual. As in several previous Geva productions, actor-director Gurr
provides yet another strikingly original interpretation of a role I’d expect to
be played differently but am entirely happy with.
No,
this play will not instruct you. Yes, it’s clever, and maybe too earnest, but
those aren’t the reasons for its esteem. It will involve you with its
characters and their dramatic conflicts enough to even care about their
interminable arguments and definitions.
Copenhagen,by
Michael Frayn, directed by Michael Donald Edwards, plays at Geva Theatre Center, 75 Woodbury Boulevard, Tuesdays
through Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., and Sundays at 2
p.m. and 7:30 p.m., through November 16. Special matinee on Wednesday, November
12, at 2 p.m. Tix: $13-$47.50. 232-4382,
www.gevatheatre.org.
This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2003.
