Copenhagen (Student Editions) - Softcover

Frayn, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 041377371X ISBN 13: 9780413773715

Publisher: Methuen Drama, 2003

Synopsis

'Michael Frayn's tremendous play is a piece of history, an intellectual thriller, a psychological investigation and a moral tribunal in full session' Sunday Times

'A profound and haunting meditation on the mysteries of human motivation' Independent

'Frayn has seized on a rallife historical and scientific mystery. In 1941 the physicist Werner Heisenberg, who formulated the famous Uncertainty Principle about the movement of particles, and was at that time leading the Nazi's nuclear programme, went to visit his old boss and mentor, Niels Bohr, in Copenhagen. What was the purpose of his visit to Nazioccupied Denmark? What did the two old friends say to each other, particularly bearing in mind that Bohr was both halfJewish and a Danish patriot?. . . Frayn argues that just as it is impossible to be certain of the precise location of an electron, so it is impossible to be certain about the workings of the human mind. . . What is certain is that Frayn makes ideas zing and sing in this play' Daily Telegraph

About this title

Review:

"A piece of history, an intellectual thriller, a psychological investigation and a moral tribunal in full session." --Sunday Times of London

"Probably the best play about science ever written in English drama. Forget the physics. The greatest experiment...is the dramatic form itself." --The Guardian

"Frayn has seized on a real-life historical and scientific mystery. In 1941 the physicist Werner Heisenberg, who formulated the famous Uncertainty Principle about the movement of particles, and was at that time leading the Nazi's nuclear programme, went to visit his old boss and mentor, Niels Bohr, in Copenhagen. What was the purpose of his visit to Nazi-occupied Denmark? What did the two old friends say to each other, particularly bearing in mind that Bohr was both half-Jewish and a Danish patriot?... Frayn argues that just as it is impossible to be certain of the precise location of an electron, so it is impossible to be certain about the workings of the human mind... What is certain is that Frayn makes ideas zing and sing in this play." --Daily Telegraph

"A profound and haunting meditation on the mysteries of human motivation." --Independent

About the Author:

Michael Frayn was born in London in 1933 and read Russian, French and Moral Sciences (Philosophy) at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He began his career as a journalist on the Manchester Guardian and the Observer. His award-winning plays include Alphabetical Order, Make and Break and Noises Off, all of which received Best Comedy of the Year awards, while Benefactors was named Best Play of the Year. Two of his more recent plays, Copenhagen and Democracy, also won numerous awards (including, for Copenhagen, the Tony in New York and the Prix Molière in Paris). In 2006 Donkeys' Years was revived in the West End thirty years after its premiere and was followed in 2007 by The Crimson Hotel, at the Donmar, and by Afterlife, at the National Theatre, in 2008. Frayn has translated Chekhov's last four plays, dramatised a selection of his one-act plays and short stories under the title The Sneeze, and adapted his first, untitled play, as Wild Honey. Frayn's novels include Towards the End of the Morning (in the USA, Against Entropy), The Trick of It, A Landing on the Sun, Headlong and Spies. His most recent books were a work of philosophy, The Human Touch, and Stage Directions, a collection of his writing on the theatre.

About this edition

• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 041377371X
• ISBN 13: 9780413773715
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224