Feb 1, 2008

Bomb rhetoric lost in sparkless production

By John Angell Grant / Theater Columnist

Are science and ethics incompatible? That question arises out of the intriguing bull session between two Nobel Prize-winning quantum physicists, Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg, in English playwright Michael Frayn's Tony Award-winning drama "Copenhagen."

Palo Alto Players is running a community theater production of the show at Lucie Stern Theater.

"Copenhagen" seems particularly relevant as 21st century people grope to find human or spiritual values in the cold worlds of technology, logic and reason.

The play focuses on a secret meeting between Bohr and Heisenberg in 1941, the motivation for which is unclear to historians. Both men were key players in the development of quantum physics, and later of nuclear weapons technology.

"Copenhagen" is told in the shadow of World War II Nazi and Allied forces politics. Many of the era's physicists were Jewish.

In "Copenhagen," Bohr and Heisenberg examine the complicated dynamics of their personal friendship and rivalry. At the story's center is a discussion of the morality of nuclear weapons technology.

The play is told from the point of view of Bohr, Heisenberg and Bohr's wife Margrethe after their deaths. In "Copenhagen," these three characters are dead people reflecting back on their lives, motivations, scientific work and ethical decisions.

"Copenhagen" is also about the relationship between memory and history. Its three characters dispute who said what at what point in the past. The story jumps back and forth in time.

Playwright Frayn appears to draw a parallel between the uncertainty of memory and Heisenberg's famous Uncertainty Principle of quantum physics. This parallel, for me, is a bit of a stretch, and a somewhat facile symmetry to the play.

The Uncertainty Principle tells us that an object changes when you observe it, so you never know what an object really is. By implication, that theory challenges the notion of causality, on which all science is based.

Playwright Frayn is best known for his hilarious backstage theater farce "Noises Off." He has also written fascinating political/philosophical plays, including the fabulous "Democracy" (about the post World War II division and reunification of Germany), and the unusual "Benefactors" (about British housing rent control).

"Copenhagen" falls into the category of talky, political/philosophical play. It is also a "Rashomon" story of sorts, like Kurosawa's famous movie about conflicting memories of a crime scene.

"Copenhagen" unveils the possibilities of why Bohr and Heisenberg met secretly in 1941. Historians dispute the motivations for that meeting and what transpired.

"Copenhagen" is a good play, but difficult to stage. It contains much personal and historical exposition. It is also loaded with short monologues. Neither of those elements is inherently audience-friendly.

Thus a director really has to be creative to make it all fly. That doesn't happen in this local production. Director Dave Sikula has difficulty giving the chapters of the story varying emotional color and texture, and difficulty creating a weighting and balancing of the philosophical debate.

Except for Noel Wood's thoughtfully considered performance as Heisenberg, the sparks never really fly during character interactions.

As Niels Bohr, actor Charlie Anderson seems to have his hands full just remembering the line load, which is significant for this part. He performs in a monotone, and doesn't sell either the physics speculation from his character, or any sense of being a participant in relationships.

When the other characters describe his angry moments, he seems no different than at other times. This is disappointing, since "Copenhagen" can be a terrific play under different conditions. It deals with big issues.

Among the questions "Copenhagen" asks are these: Could physicists have stopped the bomb? Should physicists have stopped the bomb?

Or, restated, who gets to die, who gets to live and who gets to make those decisions?

Rating: Two stars

E-mail John Angell Grant at jagplays@dailynewsgroup.com.