COPENHAGEN, Margetts Theatre, Brigham Young University, Provo, through May 29 (378-4322). Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes (one intermission).
PROVO — "Copenhagen" is a different sort of play, a challenge really for both cast and audience.
First, there are only three characters — Margarethe Bohr, played by Heidi D. Reed; Niels Bohr, played by David Morgan; and Werner Heisenberg, played by Logan Miller — each with an immense amount of complicated dialogue to wade through.
There is only a sparsely decorated set, which involves a world globe, a chair and lights — which, on closer inspection, mimic a nucleus with the various electron particles (or cast members) continually revolving and bouncing off one another.
But there is also an enormously important conversation going on that plays a pivotal role in mankind's destiny.
So the brain fodder is there, and certainly there are philosophical questions to ponder.
Still, "Copenhagen" can't be — by any stretch — regarded as light and easy-to-watch entertainment.
These characters really existed, and while no one really knows what was talked about between Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg as they met in the Bohr home in 1941, this play intelligently deduces that it had something to do with the fate of the world.
Bohr was a brilliant scientist, a Danish Jew living in Sweden during Hitler's reign, and Heisenberg was a German master of theoretical physics, and here they discuss whether the world — and whose world — should have the ability to produce the atomic bomb.
It's hard to fault this play because it deals with such critical information, but at the same time, it is hard to sit focused on one conversation for more than two hours without much to break up the intensity.
Reed does a fair job as Margarethe, though her performance is slightly uneven as she is alternately sitting quietly listening, or raging at either her idealistic husband or his erratic, unreadable friend.
Morgan does the best job of coming across as entirely human, frustrated by his ambitions, his love of country and the Jewish population, and his admiration for Heisenberg, which is severely tested along the way.
Miller is earnest as Heisenberg and doesn't even attempt any kind of German accent, which is probably a blessing given the marathon speeches he must deliver.
This is a production for those interested in quantum physics and nuclear fission and history. It's a good one to watch and then discuss in an open-forum setting.
There are a number of parallels one can draw between religion and science, and therefore, it breeds some thought.
It starts slowly and builds, and there is definite energy as the discussion gets heated. There's even some dark humor sprinkled about.
But to appreciate this, you must go in realizing you have signed on for the long haul.
E-mail: haddoc@desnews.com