Believe it or not, I've never been good at theoretical physics.
Its the math, I keep telling myself. I can understand the concepts, but the math behind them (providing the basis for much theory) escapes me. I see the relationships between particles, but I have difficulty expressing relationships mathematically.
"Copenhagen" made theoretical physics easy for me, because it explained things in terms of the people involved. There was no math. Instead, I saw three people, deeply affected by the harsh reality that true knowledge holds for people: to possibly have the fate of millions in your hands, but expressed through impersonal, and possibly incorrect, abstract mathematical equations.
"Copenhagen" is a play about a meeting that took place between Neils Bohr and Werner Heisenberg in Denmark in 1941. Bohr, a German, visits his old friend and mentor in occupied-Denmark. That is where the facts end: no one knows exactly what was said at the meeting, or what was decided. The play is hypothetical conjecture: putting words into the mouths of two dead men and one dead woman.
In short, the play is fascinating. Heisenberg is remembered mostly today for his uncertainty equation: to put it badly, that it is impossible to know the position and speed of a particle within an atom because by measuring either, you upset the balance and introduce another variable (as I said, thats bad: it probably has a much different meaning that I could talk about if I understood theoretical physics: see my first paragraph.) The play uses the equation as a metaphor for the entire meeting: presenting multiple accounts within of what could have happened, with each intersecting in the next in a different way. To truly question whether one's motives can be actually known is heavy stuff; the play deals with it deftly.
Presentation of the play was excellent: set and lighting contributed well to the overall piece. Lighting particularly: using different schemes and specials to effectively highlight pertinent visible relationships on stage. The acting was superb: all three actors (the third is Bohr's wife, who according to the play, was Bohr's confidant for much of his life) became their characters. It truly was interesting to put faces and actions to theoretical physics and related equations. The greatest compliment that I feel I can pay to the cast and the playwright is that the actors seemed to disappear: they honestly knew what they were talking about, whether it was splitting the hydrogen atom, or differential equations.
In short, the play made the physics fun: the math disappears, and allows only the relationships to shine through. And that is what is important and universal about Copenhagen: the relationship between the three people and the questions that theoretical science brings to bear about actual reality.
Copehnahgen is on tour currently; In Philadelphia, it can be seen at the Forrest Theatre on Walnut Street.
Posted by Matthew at April 26, 2002 01:38 AM