Picture this: it's Germany, 1941, shortly before the United States enters World War II. Two nuclear physicists, one German, one Jewish, have a meeting that goes sour, but no one knows what was really said.
From this true-life encounter, playwright Michael Frayn made "Copenhagen," a Tony Award-winning drama.
"The play isn't really about nuclear fission or history," Director Linda Lopez-McAlister said. "It's really about human emotion. It's quite fascinating."
Retired UNM English professor Hugh Witemeyer plays Niels Bohr, a brilliant physicist whose former protÇgÇ Werner Heisenberg, played by Zane Barker, ends up on the Nazi side of the war.
No one really knows what happened in the factual encounter. Bohr may have given Heisenberg knowledge that could have ended Bohr's life. Or maybe Heisenberg wanted to help Bohr and his wife escape Denmark before trouble came to them.
People have speculated on these events for years. "Copenhagen" takes the viewer into the afterlife of these physicists when they come back in ghostly form in an attempt to agree on what took place in their fateful encounter.
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"It doesn't come to any conclusion," Lopez-McAlister said. "It's an intellectual play that gets you to think. It's about how ultimately, in the end, you can't define human behavior and intentions."
The play itself is very complex because it is about a historical event and needed a lot of research into the characters' lives. Lopez-McAlister had advantages because she served as production dramaturge in last year's performance of "Copenhagen" in Santa Fe. She said she read biographies of the characters and helped the actors delve into their parts.
"People kept saying, 'Boy, are you brave to take that on,'" she said.
And so were the actors. The play is two-and-a-half hours long, and all three characters, Bohr, Heisenberg and Bohr's wife Margrethe, are on stage for the entirety of the production. Lopez-McAlister said all the parts are very long and difficult to learn.
"My actors are wonderful," she said. "They made my job easier than it might have been."
Margrethe is played by Kendal Butler, who Lopez-McAlister acted with 40 years ago. Butler was in town from Mexico visiting her grandkids when auditions were held.
"It was serendipity that she was coming to visit," Lopez-McAlister said. "And it all worked out okay. I got a good play."
The play began last weekend at the Adobe Theater, and through word of mouth, this Sunday's performance is sold out. Lopez-McAlister said even during its opening weekend, the theater was almost filled to capacity.
"A lot of people have heard about it, but haven't seen it, so I thought 'what the heck,'" she said.
What:"Copenhagen"
Where:The Adobe Theater
When:Through July 25
Info:898-9222
