In fact, the big problem is quite the opposite. And though he’s better known for his comedies, there’s no lack of depth in Frayn’s work here. That mastery shows here in the seamlessly elegant construction of a play that keeps its three characters in constant, circular orbit. From here, the play spins into a discussion of physics, history, and the morality of scientific discoveries that have potentially cataclysmic results.įrayn is one of theater’s great craftsmen-his Noises Off is often cited as a near-perfect farce. The “he” here is Werner Heisenberg, Bohr’s former protégé the visit-ostensibly to reconnect with his friend-took place in 1941 and the consequences-the development and subsequent deployment of the atom bomb-could hardly have been more high-stakes. “Why did he come to Copenhagen?,” asks Margrethe Bohr, wife of Niels Bohr, the celebrated physicist. But it dwells in a world of ambiguity, where questions may have no concrete answers. Not that Michael Frayn’s acclaimed play, mostly well done at Lantern Theater, is drab, though it is talky, long, and requires considerable focus from its audience. Your critic wishes you to know that he wore exactly the right thing to Copenhagen-many shades of gray. Nolan in Copenhagen at Lantern Theater Company.
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