Copenhagen

A historic encounter between two respected physicists, vividly re-imagined by British playwright Michael Frayn, is the nucleus of the award-winning drama Copenhagen.

Hailed as “endlessly fascinating… An electrifying work of art,” by The New York Times, Copenhagen is an imaginative and fascinating recreation of a historic meeting. In the play, dramatist Frayn artfully explores the mysterious 1941 encounter between German physicist Werner Heisenberg, who was then in charge of the Nazi nuclear research program, and Danish physicist Niels Bohr. Though Bohr had once been Heisenberg’s friend and mentor, the men were on the opposite sides of the political fence in war-torn Europe The former colleagues discuss the intricacies of physics and ponder the metaphysical — the very essence of human motivation. As the meeting progresses, questions regarding Heisenberg’s true purpose arise: D id he set up the meeting to learn from Bohr if the Allies were working on an atomic bomb? Or did he attempt to warn Bohr that the Germans were developing an A-bomb? Observing this uncertain reunion of these two formidable minds is Bohr’s astute wife, Margrethe. R. Michael Gros, Artistic Director of PCPA, directs.