Review: COPENHAGEN at Perisphere Theater

Perisphere Theater's Copenhagen left me feeling uneasy. Maybe this was this was exactly what I should have been feeling; the script, after all, examines the morality of two scientists who worked on the atomic bomb and predictably, no firm conclusions are drawn. But despite the strong performances, something is missing from this production. Like Werner Heisenberg who left out an equation in his fission calculations, Copenhagen misses a crucial variable and never quite makes good on the promise it shows.

Copenhagen is packed with intricate, mile-a-minute dialogue that covers topics from theoretical physics to the sticky, father-son relationship between the scientists Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg. It's certainly not an easy script to sell, especially since most of the play is set in a sort of afterlife, and the characters explain and re-explain their reasoning directly to the audience. There's no fourth wall here, so it's remarkable that the three cast members create such complete characters that easily interact with the audience and each other. John Decker shines as Niels Bohr. Decker does a good job of slowly revealing Bohr's real character, gradually letting his self-doubt emerge from a façade of unassailable morality. He and Ben McRoe capture the loving yet fiercely competitive relationship between Bohrs and Heisenberg well, and McRoe makes the ambiguous German scientist relatable. Sue Stuve as Margrethe Bohr spends much of her time speaking directly to the audience, a difficult task. But her character stays three-dimensional throughout.

Copenhagen's main problem is its use of space. This is a highly presentational, verbal script without much in the way of built-in movement. Unfortunately, Heather Benjamin's direction only exacerbates this problem. The static blocking feels unnatural and doesn't help tell the story. This production would work equally well as a radio play, with no staging at all. In fact, I often found myself looking away from the stage and concentrating only on understanding the rapid dialogue, much like how I would listen to a podcast. The actors rarely step outside the molecular design painted around center stage, using a mere one third of the playing space. The lighting design seems similarly odd, with spotlights and changes in color highlighting moments that don't seem to be meaningful to the script.

Copenhagen is a thoughtful, complicated piece of theatre. Its meditation on what constitutes a moral choice feels very relevant in our current political climate. But this production stumbles in the execution, greatly diminishing its impact.

Photo Credit: Ciscovaras Pictures