Copenhagen

Copenhagen, written by the renowned author Michael Frayn, is a captivating and out of the ordinary play. The play happens to be based mostly in Copenhagen, Denmark. Frayn’s Play takes place in the afterlife, as three characters reminisce and try to sort through particularly interesting details of their lives, including the infamous meeting between two of the characters; Werner Heisenberg and Niels Bohr. Copenhagen proved to be a much more difficult read than expected, with very little logic and no set plot. There tended to be some organizational errors, and a problem with the clarity of the overall play, and use of language.

Three characters by the name of Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, and Margrethe Bohr, are able to come together and focus on their relationships, how they unfolded, what they entailed, and how they affected not only one another and their families but the world at large. In the afterlife, the characters are free to question one another's actions and motives; they can challenge one another's beliefs and memories; and they can look back more objectively, since their human egos no longer exist. The threats that existed during their lifetimes no longer concern them. Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg are two physicists who had opposite views, Bohr is already devastated that his homeland is occupied with German invaders, and Heisenberg is obsessed with getting the power of the atom for the German forces. While reading the play, I sensed Bohr and Heisenberg at times throughout Copenhagen seem to not have very well communication skills, which is why they tend to over react and disagree on what actually happen on that windy 1941 brief walk outside Bohr’s household.

Among the reasons the play fails is the dialogue use t...

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...he short lines, and the back and forth between the two when talking. Another thing is there are interruptions, and repetitions as in a normal conversations, but there is no pauses or breaks between lines and the next act, everything just happens to flow into the next.

On the whole Michael Frayn interesting, but yet completive piece of art Copenhagen in the end was very mind opening. It mad you want to keep reading, and had you guessing as to what really took place in the meeting between Heisenberg and Bohr on the 1941 evening. With the few details I pointed out above, in the end I would have to say overall it was very well written and portrayed of the real characters. It confirmed to be one considering play, that I have read in my many years at reading. Copenhagen, upon completion of the organizational, grammatical, and pace flow errors, could be one of the best.