This counts as the second time that I have seen the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Michael Frayn’s play ‘Copenhagen’, and it still rates as a knockout.
Frayn’s play hangs on a meeting that is purported to have taken place in Nazi Germany between two of the world’s most brilliant physicists, German physicist Werner Heisenberg and the Dutch, half Jewish physicist, Niels Bohr.
The significance of their discussions centered on them coming up with the final parts of their formula for the world’s first atomic bomb. In hindsight it was more than a little fortuitous for our civilization that the two scientists did not come up with the solution before the end of the Second World War.
The features of this play were:-the quality of Frayn’s writing; the dialogue was as sharp as a tack, the structure was exquisite. A quality of the writing was that Frayn did not take sides politically. There was as much sympathy and understanding of the German people’s plight as there was for the allies.
The production itself was first class. British director Michael Blakemore’s direction was strong. I enjoyed how well orchestrated the characters were. The performances were exceptional. Robert Menzies was the stand-out as the passionate, extroverted Heisenberg. John Gaden had the less flashy role of the reflective, introverted Bohr. Jane Harders complemented the two male performances with a subtle, deft performance as Bohr’s wife, Margrette. Margrette came across as a soft person with however a steely strength underneath.
Summing up, ‘Copenhagen’ was a memorable night in the theatre and it stands as one of the Sydney Theatre Company’s flagship productions in the same way as the late Richard Wherrett’s production of ‘The Crucible’ was.
