Power, Physics, and the Past: Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen Returns

History is rarely a fixed record; instead, it often resembles a series of shifting probabilities, much like the subatomic particles that define our physical world. Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen remains the definitive dramatization of this ambiguity, transforming a debated wartime encounter into a complex meditation on the ethics of science and the fragility of the truth.

Returning to the London stage for its first major production since its 1998 premiere, the play is set to anchor the spring season at Hampstead Theatre. This revival, directed by Michael Longhurst, suggests a renewed interest in narratives that question the reliability of memory and the ethical burdens of scientific progress.

The production features a significant pairing of screen and stage veterans. Alex Kingston, known for her roles in ER and Doctor Who, will star alongside Richard Schiff, best recognized for his portrayal of Toby Ziegler in The West Wing. They will inhabit the roles of the Danish physicist Niels Bohr and his wife Margrethe, figures whose lives were irrevocably altered by the geopolitical fractures of the twentieth century.

The central tension of the play revolves around a meeting that has perplexed historians for decades. in 1941, Werner Heisenberg, the German physicist leading the Nazi nuclear energy project, made a perilous journey to German-occupied Copenhagen to visit his former mentor, Bohr.

What transpired during their conversation remains a subject of intense speculation. Frayn’s drama uses this historical void to explore the “uncertainty principle” not just as a scientific theory, but as a metaphor for human motivation. As the characters revisit the encounter from different perspectives, the audience is forced to confront the ambiguity of intention during times of total war.

The selection of this play highlights the enduring relationship between the playwright and the venue. Frayn served on the theatre’s board for a quarter-century and was instrumental in the foundation that established its current home. His body of work, which often oscillates between farce and political philosophy, has frequently found its first audience in Hampstead.

Complementing this exploration of historical gravity is the UK premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s Stage Kiss, directed by Blanche McIntyre. While tonally distinct from Frayn’s nuclear drama, Ruhl’s work engages with a parallel theme: the porous boundary between performance and reality.

The narrative follows two actors with a romantic history who are cast as lovers in a 1930s melodrama. As they rehearse, the lines between their scripted passion and their dormant personal grievances begin to blur. It is a metatheatrical examination of how art imitates life, and how the roles assumed on stage can dismantle the realities constructed off it.

This programming choice marks a reunion for McIntyre and Ruhl, following their previous collaboration on Letters From Max. It suggests a curatorial focus on American playwrights who deconstruct the mechanics of storytelling itself.

Beyond the main stage, the season reflects a broader commitment to community engagement and new writing. The theatre has appointed playwright Juliet Gilkes Romero as a Writer in Residence, tasked with developing a large-scale work in collaboration with local community organizations. This initiative aims to bridge the gap between professional artistic creation and the lived experiences of Camden residents.

The season also includes upcoming premieres by Alexi Kaye Campbell and Richard Nelson, as well as the UK premiere of the Tony Award-winning musical Kimberly Akimbo. However, it is the return of Copenhagen that sets the intellectual temper for the months ahead.

By revisiting the ethical dilemmas of the atomic age, the theatre invites audiences to consider how the decisions of the past—often made in shadow and uncertainty—continue to resonate in the present political climate. In an era where objective truth is increasingly contested, Frayn’s examination of the unknowable nature of the human heart remains acutely relevant.