[NEohioPAL]BERKO: COPENHAGEN REVIEW/ACTORS' SUMMIT

[Roy Berko]

FASCINATING, MUST SEE  ‘COPENHAGEN’ AT ACTOR’S SUMMIT

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	

Why didn’t Hitler’s Germany develop an atomic bomb and
thus get the means to not only win the Second World
War, but control the world?  That question has plagued
many intellects.   If Michael Frayn, the author of the
much acclaimed and Tony Award winning play
‘COPENHAGEN’ is correct, the answer lies on two
planes.  First, Hitler’s maniacal hatred of the Jews
caused the likes of Einstein and Oppenheimer, the
cream of German physicists, to flee the country.  In
addition, a most significant question,the clue to
atomic energy, was never asked nor answered by Werner
Heisenberg,  Germany’s wartime head of its nuclear
program.

‘COPENHAGEN,’ which came to the stage in 1998, is
about the 1941 meeting between Heisenberg and his
Danish counterpart Niels Bohr.   The probing questions
of that meeting are, “Why did it happen?” and “What
really took place?” The history of the world may well
have been decided at that meeting.  Frayn’s play has
given fuel to further fire answers to those questions
and put to rest the issue of Nazi Germany’s nuclear
failure.

A lecture delivered by Ian Johnston of Malaspina
University-College, Nanaimo, BC, Canada, in March
2001, illuminates the debate.   He stated, “The first
(and most obvious) interpretative issue the play
raises—the relationship between the historical record
and a fictional interpretation of historical events
based upon a judicious selection of material from that
record, some imaginative additions, and a creative
patterning of the combination [becomes] what adds up
to some significant totality as theatre.”

He further states, “Frayn's work cannot contain or
incorporate all the historical material relevant to
the events, as well as the various ways this material
has been read. His task as an artist is to offer some
imaginatively coherent vision of the experience he is
addressing. And that task necessarily requires him to
select, omit, and invent.”

>From the standpoint of the theatre-goer, Frayn
accomplishes his task well.  Even though the play is
extremely long, and could have been tightened up to
make it more palatable to the average attender, it
holds one’s attention throughout.  

Reviews of the script and its British and American
premieres were almost all  enthusiastic. As one
reviewer stated, "An evening with Michael Frayn's
dazzling new drama will be among the most
exhilarating, challenging and involving two and a half
hours you ever spend in a theater. And you don't need
an advanced degree to understand the profound
questions it raises about motive, morality and the
betrayal of memory.”

It is exciting that the play’s local premiere
production, on stage at Actors’ Summit, is presented
at the same lofty heights as the original productions.
 Neil Thackaberry’s directing is exacting.  The trio
of actors are impeccable in their character
developments, and the setting created by having the
audience surround the stage results in an intimacy
that makes the viewer part of the action.   

Wayne Turney is on a theatrical roll.  He was recently
superb in ‘HAMLET’ and ‘TARTUFFE’ at Great Lakes
Theatre Festival.  He did a wonderful translation of
‘TARTUFFE’ at Actors’ Summit.  He is a dual recipient
of the Times Theatre Tributes.  He is a sure bet to
garner another award for his fascinating performance
as Werner Heisenberg.  Turney’s performance shows what
happens when acting talent, character understanding,
and the right vehicle come together.  BRAVO!

A. Neil Thackaberry gives his finest acting
performance as Niels Bohr.   As is the case with
Turney, he absorbs himself into the character of the
half-Jewish Danish physicist who played a major role
in helping the United States to develop the atomic
bomb.  

Last season Lucy Bredeson-Smith gave a career
highlight performance as Rosemary in Actors’ Summit’s
‘PICNIC.” Her performance was recognized with a Times
Tribute Theatre Award.  She has followed up that
stellar showing with another fine achievement.  She
well plays the fulcrum of the teeter totter ride
between Bohr and Heisenberg with consummate skill. 

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  With the complexity of script, any
production short of the Actors’ Summit’s superb
rendition, would make for a long and confusing evening
of theatre.    ‘COPENHAGEN’ is Actors’ Summit’s very
best production to date!!!!   This production is not a
should see, it is a MUST see! 

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