About the Show

A drama revisiting a wartime meeting between physicists Heisenberg and Bohr.

Set in 1941 during the German occupation of Denmark, the play centers on a mysterious meeting between physicist Werner Heisenberg and his former mentor and collaborator Niels Bohr in Copenhagen. Once partners in groundbreaking discoveries about atomic structure, the two now confront one another under the shadow of war and divided loyalties. The purpose of Heisenberg’s visit—and what he intended to reveal—remains contested, forming the dramatic core of the work.

Written by Michael Frayn, Copenhagen revisits the encounter through a series of speculative conversations among Heisenberg, Bohr, and Bohr’s wife, Margrethe, examining both scientific uncertainty and the ambiguities of memory and motive. This production marks the first London staging since the 1998 premiere at the National Theatre and is directed by Michael Longhurst,.

Critic Reviews (6)

"Dazzling but mind-boggling play about quantum theory"
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"It feels like a glaring omission to overlook the destruction of Nagasaki and Hiroshima...especially at a time when US military imperialism is raising its head in the most alarming of ways."
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"The play feels curiously more and less relevant than it must have done in the late '90s, which should please venerable mischief maker Frayn."
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"This is essentially a memory play; its structure is to suggest various drafts of history, as working together in a ghostly space"
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"This is a fascinating, densely philosophical play, whose dramatic elevation beyond a lecture on nuclear fission, identity and moral responsibility demands actors who are up to the task."
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"With wars currently waging around the globe, and the threat of greater escalation, this production of the nuclear-themed Copenhagen, which plays around the decisions and tricks of the mind that can determine mass destruction"
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