Palm Beach Dramaworks identifies itself as a producer of “theatre to think about,” a label it certainly earns with its current offering, Michael Frayn’s heady historical drama, Copenhagen. This Tony Award-winning play from 2000 revolves around a 1941 meeting between German physicist Werner Heisenberg and his Danish mentor Niels Bohr which changed the course of World War II. But no one knows exactly what happened at that meeting. Not even the participants.

“Heisenberg went from Germany to occupied Denmark, to Copenhagen where Bohr was living, and they went for a walk,” says Christopher Oden, who plays Heisenberg. “Nobody knows exactly what was said on that walk or why he went, but potentially as a result, the German atomic bomb program did not progress to the point of developing a usable weapon.”

So the stakes were high for the cerebral conversation between the two scientists, which Frayn plays out with significant variations three separate times during the evening. Also present is Bohr’s wife Margrethe (Elizabeth Dimon), a stand-in for the audience, for she too is a layman when it comes to the details of nuclear physics.

“She has enough working knowledge because she’s typed out all of Bohr’s papers,” notes Dimon. “But she keeps on pushing them to remember what really happened and to clarify the science in simpler form.”

To Frayn, however, Margrethe serves an even more important role. “You see, the structure of the play sort of mirrors atomic theory,” explains Colin McPhillamy, who assumes the part of Bohr. “One of the discoveries that was made at this time was that the act of observing something changes what you’re observing.” That, in brief, is the Heisenberg Uncertainly Principle. “So the fact that we’re observed by Margrethe changes our perception of what happened.”

To those who are starting to drown in concepts of physics, the Copenhagen cast has one word of advice — relax.
“This play is not about physics,” Oden quickly adds. “Physics is the pretext for something else. It’s about the human relationships, it’s about ethics, about having to make choices and about examining your motives and trying to determine what other people’s motives are.”

“It clearly requires work on the audience’s part, it can not be a passive experience, but those up to the task will be rewarded,” says Dimon. “It’s densely layered, but Frayn’s use of language is astonishing and a real pleasure.”

So what really happened that fateful day in Copenhagen, nearly 80 years ago? Frayn leaves that up to the audience. “The intent of the play is to examine this historical event. It’s not actually to explain it,” notes McPhillamy.

“Just when you think Frayn is about to tip his hand,” says Dimon, “he brings up another question.”
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Wopat is Mr. Chicago: Chicago, that cynical musical salute to our corrupt justice system, returns to the Kravis Center Monday through Wednesday, starring Tom (Dukes of Hazzard) Wopat as razzle-dazzle defense lawyer Billy Flynn. It is a role Wopat has played on Broadway for six different engagements and many more times on the road.

What is the part’s appeal to him? “I show up late, I leave early, I wear one outfit,” he explains. “The songs are nice and there’s beautiful women. What could be better?’

For tickets, call (561) 832-7469 or (800) 572-8471.

If you go:

COPENHAGEN, Palm Beach Dramaworks, 322 Banyan Blvd., West Palm Beach. Tonight through Jan. 31. Tickets: $42-$44.

Call: (561) 514-4042.