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A CurtainUp
LondonReview
Copenhagen by James Walters
My knowledge of the Second World War is second hand. It comes from
relatives who lived through it, from lessons taught in the classroom and
from the inescapable way that it still impinges upon life today. Over
fifty years on we are still living in the shadow of the technological
leaps made during that bloody six year period. Copenhagen deals with two
of the men who were responsible in some way, shape or form for those
advances.
The play centres around the relationship between the supreme German
physicist Werner Heisenberg (Matthew Marsh) and his mentor Niels Bohr
(David Burke). More than this, it tries to suggest answers to a
question that has dogged the scientific world since the nineteen
forties: Why did Heisenberg visit the half Jewish Bohr in Copenhagen in
1942? Many answers have been postulated over the years, but no one
actually knows. Was he trying to influence Bohr in an attempt to
persuade him to steer the Allies away from atomic weapons of mass
destruction, or were his motives more sinister? Was Heisenberg himself
trying to tease information from Bohr which would allow Hitler's
Nazi regime to sweep through Europe on the back their own A-Bomb?
At first glance it is fair to say that Nuclear Physics might not be the
most accessible topic for the theatre going public. However, it is at
this point that Michael Frayn's frank and often witty dialogue
triumphs. Indeed, he draws the audience into the subject of the piece
with such theatrical ease that talk of sub-atomic particles and nuclear
fission are wholly acceptable and, more importantly, recognisable
aspects of a compelling story.
The relationship between the young, somewhat impetuous Heisenberg and
the older, enigmatic Bohr is captured with marvellous clarity. The
audience is held transfixed for two hours of total theatre. This
achievement also owes much to Margrethe Bohr's (Sara Kestelman)contribution to the
proceedings of
She plays the lynch-pin, the steady
rock to which these two minds were fastened -- the central nucleus of an
atom containing two frantic and constantly colliding electrons. Her
questioning keeps the dialogue within the realm of the layman and prevents
it from soaring off into the clouds of highbrow science.
Copenhagen is a theatrical spectacle that benefits from simple yet
amazingly versatile staging by Peter J. Davison. His work gives the
actors scope to indulge in the great art of storytelling. A basic
circular wooden staging, flanked at the rear by thirty or so raised
seats, gives the performance the feel of being played in a lecture
theatre. It also achieves the almost impossible in turning the Duchess
into an intimate theatre in the round.
Overall, the production is a theatrical masterpiece. It engages the
audience on every level and doesn't let go from beginning to end.
It will be hard to find an equal in London before the end of this
century.
COPENHAGEN
By Michael Frayn
Directed by Michael Blakemore
With Sara Kestelman, David Burke, Matthew Marsh
Set Design: Peter J Davison
Lighting Design Mark Henderson
Sound Design: Simon Barker
The Duchess Theatre, Catherine Street, London WC2
Tel. 0171 494 5075
From 02/05/99 Onwards
Reviewed by James Walters based on 3/16 performance
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