In Our Final Century, distinguished scientist Martin Rees tells of a bet he made with a fellow scientist on the likelihood of a large scale nuclear disaster killing over a million people in the upcoming years. Apart from giving one concerns about the flippant nature of scientists’ pastimes, the comment also reminds us of the depressing potentiality of nuclear disaster in the near future, and it’s in this context that the Lyceum have chosen to end their season with a bang; or rather a play about the prevention of a bang – Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen.
The play imagines what may have taken place during the much debated visit from German physicist Werner Heisenberg (Owen Oakeshott) to his Jewish mentor Niels Bohr (Tom Mannion) in 1941. Having worked together for a number of years, laying the groundwork for quantum physics, they found themselves on opposite sides when the war broke out. It’s speculated that known nationalist Heisenberg was looking to deliver Hitler the atomic bomb and that this historical meeting could have led to the end of humanity, had Heisenberg got what he needed from Bohr.
There is no right and wrong, is Heisenberg guilty or not guilty; we will never know.
But that’s just one prospect in a story that weaves a tapestry of possibilities: Heisenberg might have come looking to convert Bohr to the Nazi cause, or to warn his Jewish friend that the Nazi’s were approaching on Denmark. Perhaps Heisenberg wanted to expose Nazi atrocities to his old mentor, or maybe the two simply wanted, in the dark time of war, to revisit the glory days when working together brought them immense enjoyment and productivity untainted by political influence. The play refuses to privilede one possibility over another, presenting them simultaneously.
It’s this endless mixture of uncertainties that attracted director Tony Cownie to the material. “There is no right and wrong, is Heisenberg guilty or not guilty; we will never know. The intangible nature of what science is involved in and the intangible nature of memory…it’s a lot like Heisenberg’s own Uncertainty Principle.”
Yes, such scientific jargon must enter into the characters’ conversation if the play is to have any credibility, but Cownie is making sure the lab-rat chat serves rather than obscures the drama: “It’s just a case of finding where the colours and shades begin and being very clear about when there is a change in subject or emphasis.”
Indeed, the language is part of what makes Frayn’s script riveting; the double whammy of intellectual and emotional stimulation should make for a challenging but highly rewarding evening.
Details
Royal Lyceum. Edinburgh, Fri 17 Apr – Sat 9 May
Evenings: Tue – Sat @ 19.45
Matinees: 22, 25, 29 Apr, 2, 9 May @ 14.30
Special Events:
In association with Royal Society of Edinburgh: Michael Frayn @ the Lyceum, Thu 23 Apr
Visit the website for more details: lyceum or call 0131 248 4848
Pictured L-R: Tom Mannion, Sally Edwards, Owen Oaskenshott. Photographer: Richard Campbell.