Copenhagen is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

Originally presented in London at the Cottesloe Theatre, Royal National Theatre. This production moved to the Duchess Theatre, where it was presented by Michael Codron and Less Dean. Subsequently produced in New York on Broadway at the Royale Theatre on April 11, 2000 by arrangement with James M. Nederlander, Roger Berlind, Scott Rudin and Elizabeth Ireland McCann.

Walterdale Theatre would like to acknowledge that we are on Treaty 6 territory, a traditional meeting grounds, gathering place, and travelling route to the Cree, Saulteaux, Blackfoot, Métis, Dene and Nakota Sioux. We acknowledge all the many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit whose footsteps have marked these lands for centuries.

Walterdale Mission Statement

We are an Edmonton-based community theatre committed to the production of engaging and vibrant works and providing our member volunteers opportunities to participate in all aspects of theatre production.

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Walterdale Theatre has been successfully run by its volunteers for 60 years now, and we invite you to join our team. Whether you can donate a few hours or a few seasons, we are always looking for new volunteers to help grow our theatre.

The best way to get involved at Walterdale is to become a member today! You will receive news about shows, special events, opportunities to volunteer or audition, and discounts on tickets.

For more information about joining Walterdale, go to our website at www.walterdaletheatre.com, e-mail us at walterph@telus.net, or call us at 780-439-3058. We will get back to you!

Walterdale’s COVID Protocols During the Performance.

1. Keep your masks on at all times in the building
2. Follow all instructions from our Front-Of-House volunteers
3. Enjoy the show!

For more information regarding Walterdale’s COVID-19 response, please click here.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Donna Call	Margrethe Bohr
Bob Klakowich	Niels Bohr
Kendrick Sims	Werner Heisenberg

PRODUCTION TEAM

Martin Stout	Director
Megan Reti	Costume Designer
Adam Luijkx	Lighting Designer
Darrell Portz	Multimedia Designer
Leland Stelck	Set Designer
Dylan MacKay	Sound Designer
Louise Mallory	Production Manager
Anglia Redding	Stage Manager
Richard Hatfield	Master Builder & Technical Advisor
Brooke Emberly	Master Painter
Debbie Tyson	Props Master
Kateri Delong	Assistant Stage Manager
Jay Sanni	Assistant Production Manager
Cinnamon Stacey	Assistant Production Manager
Jeff Turkiewicz	Sound Operator
Build Crew	Terry Hebbard Ken New Andrew Selwood John Younie Nikki Younie
Paint Crew	Joan Heys Hawkins
Props Crew	Terry Hebbard
Glenn Cook	Poster/Cover Art Design
John Anderson	Co-Director of Production
Christine Gold	Co-Publicity Director
Ed Medeiros	Co-Publicity Director
Geri Dittrich	Costume Advisor

Director’s Notes

Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn’d,
Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell,
Be thy intents wicked or charitable,
Thou comest in such a questionable shape
That I will speak to thee.

But why? Long after they walked the Earth, three spirits gather in an indeterminate place at an uncertain time, to find the answer to a question that still haunts them.

The Nobel prize for Physics was awarded in 1922 to Niels Bohr, and in 1927 to his former student, Werner Heisenberg. Together, both men developed the radical new science of quantum mechanics which, along with Einstein’s General Relativity, overturned classical mechanics. Their famous Copenhagen Interpretation attempted to describe how the mathematics of quantum mechanics corresponds with observable physical reality. Without advanced mathematics, Bohr strove to explain his scientific concepts in “plain language” to his intellectual collaborator and wife, Margrethe who then typed and edited all of his scientific papers. During the play, the character of Margrethe will also remind the spirits of both men to use plain language when they are discussing what they can now remember, and what their intentions might have been.

In 1940 Denmark had been occupied by Nazi Germany and the partly Jewish Bohr was under constant surveillance by the Gestapo and the threat of possible detention in a concentration camp. Meanwhile, Heisenberg had been investigated by the SS regarding his teaching of “Jewish” physics and then questioned at Gestapo Headquarters on Prinz Albrecht Strasse in Berlin. Fortunately, his mother was a friend of the mother of SS chief Heinrich Himmler, and so she was able to get him released. By 1941 Heisenberg was working in Germany on research into the possibility of creating nuclear weapons. He would eventually mistakenly conclude that such weapons were not feasible and so concentrated instead on creating a nuclear reactor for energy production. In September he chose to travel to occupied Copenhagen, under the pretext of attending a scientific conference, but really in order to visit his old friends, Niels and Margrethe Bohr. What they might have discussed, and what the consequences might have been, forms the basis for this play. Afterwards, Heisenberg wrote to his wife Elizabeth that “Bohr and his family are doing fine; he has aged a little, his sons are all fully grown now. The conversation quickly turned to the human concerns and the unhappy events of these times;…Later I sat with Bohr alone for a long time. It was after midnight when he accompanied me to the streetcar;”

In 1943, just before the SS attempted to exterminate all Danish Jews, Bohr and Margrethe fled with their children to Sweden. Later, they would travel to the USA where Niels Bohr and his son Aage would join Robert Oppenheimer’s team at Los Alamos developing an atomic weapon. Aage Bohr would go on to win the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1977.

In 1944 Heisenberg gave a lecture on matrix calculus to a scientific conference at Zurich in neutral Switzerland. There, he was approached by baseball all-star legend Moe Berg who had been specially trained to ask questions about nuclear fission and atomic weapons. Berg had, in fact, been recruited by an American Intelligence agency, with orders to immediately assassinate Heisenberg if he believed Heisenberg was making an atomic bomb!

As director, I’d like to thank and commend each of the actors for their dedication to mastering the complex dense text of this play through a rehearsal process that was necessarily truncated and constrained by a public health emergency during a global pandemic.

Martin Stout, Director

Summary

In 1941, German physicist Werner Heisenberg went to Copenhagen to see his Danish counterpart, Niels Bohr. Together they had revolutionized atomic science in the 1920s, but now they were on opposite sides of a world war. We are shown each of their perspectives in an attempt to understand the motives and intentions of one another. They discuss not only the peaceful uses of nuclear power, but also the uncertain possibility and fearsome implications of creating a nuclear weapon. Like subatomic particles, each of them is governed by forces beyond their ability to resist, but any attempts to change their own course must have unforeseen and uncertain consequences.

Setting
In September 1941 Heisenberg visited the Bohrs’ home in Copenhagen. Or was it October? According to Heisenberg’s own Uncertainty Principle, the more precisely we know the location, the less sure we can be about the time. Both are really indeterminate.

Run Time
Running time: About 2.5 hours total, including one 15 minute intermission.

Audience Advisories
This play takes place mostly in Nazi occupied Denmark during World War 2. Broken swastikas are incorporated into the set design as a symbol of the constant Nazi menace in occupied Europe, as well as of its horrific consequences.

Cast Biographies

Production Team Biographies

Acknowledgements

Scott Henderson & Henderson Images

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WALTERDALE THANKS OUR PARTNERS AND SUPPORTERS

2021 – 2022 DONORS AND SUPPORTERS

Walterdale Theatre extends thanks to the generous support of local business, government grants, partners, and our patrons and members for their donations of time and funding. Without your support we could not continue.

We would especially like to thank all the subscribers, Flex Pass, and 6Pack ticket holders who donated the value of their tickets from the cancelled shows of the 2019-20 season to the theatre.

Benefactors ($1,000 plus)
The Cinders Fund at the Edmonton Community Foundation

Champions ($500-$999)
AbleIT Inc.
Anne Marie Szucs

Supporters ($100-$499)
5@50 Cast and Production Team: (Nicolle Lemay, Louise Mallory, Cinnamon Stacey, Ursula Pattaoch, Joan Hawkins, Anne Marie Szuzs, Richard Hatfield)
Carole Barton
Michael Buhr
Joan Heys and Alex Hawkins
Richard Hatfield
Philp and MJ Kreisel
Jennifer Kwan
Patricia Luxford
Shell Canada Limited
Sol Sigurdson
Julie Sinclair
Mike Harding & Don Zeman

Friends ($50-$99)
Sally Hunt

Donors ($49 and under)
Vivian Binnema

If you would like to be a part of the Walterdale Theatre family of sponsors, contact our Administrator by e-mail or phone the theatre at 780-439-3058.

WALTERDALE THEATRE ASSOCIATES Is a Canadian Registered Charity, and will provide you with an income tax receipt for any donation over $20.00 you wish to make. Thank you to everyone who supports our theatre!

A Brief History of Walterdale Theatre and Building

Walterdale is one of the longest running community theatres in Canada.

Walterdale Theatre Associates traces its beginnings to Theatre Associates, who produced their first plays (Lady Audley’s Secret and Out of the Frying Pan) in August 1958, playing in the Jubilee Auditorium social room. Before finding its home in the current Fire Hall, there have been two other Walterdale Theatres. The first was an old school on the Walterdale flats (Kinsmen Fieldhouse area), hence our name. The second was a former service men’s club house, which was later demolished for Kingsway Garden Mall.

Our current building was built in 1910 and was Strathcona Fire Hall #1. In 1912 it was re-numbered Edmonton #6 when the City of Strathcona amalgamated with the City of Edmonton. The bell tower houses the Strathcona “Town Bell”. It is topped by an octagonal belfry, covered by an octagonal roof. The tower was used to dry hoses (by hanging them up) after use. The stable (now set-building workshop) was designed to house nine horses.

The building ceased to be a working Fire Hall in 1954 and was used to store furniture. In 1974 Walterdale Theatre Associates took over the building and lovingly restored it, and converted the inside to a 145-seat theatre. The first play produced in this theatre was What the Butler Saw by Joe Orton, which opened November 12, 1974.

Major renovations were again carried out in 1993 (raising the roof and tying the building together with new beams) and in 2011 (new main floor washrooms, renewing the bricks and other major outside work).

Walterdale continues to keep our building updated and efficient, and have replaced the lighting instruments with LED lights, and the aging second floor furnaces with new high-efficiency units.

Walterdale Theatre Board of Directors 2021-2022

Executive

Artistic Director – Monica Roberts
President – Sally Hunt
Vice-President – Anne Marie Szucs
Treasurer – Wylee Johnston
Secretary – Jennifer Robinson
Past-President – Kristen M. Finlay

Directors

Building Director – Matthew Lindberg
Front-of-House Co-Directors – Alle DeMelo & Mary-Ellen Perley
Membership Director – Laura Eschak
Production Co-Directors – John Anderson & Louise Mallory
Public Relations Co-Directors – Christine Gold & Ed Medeiros
Technical Co-Directors – Richard Hatfield & Kahlan Oosterveld
Directors at Large – Jay Sanni & Anne-Marie Smyth

Front of House Volunteers

Front of House Directors
Mary Ellen Perley & Alle DeMelo

Front of House Committee Members

Volunteer Coordinator
Cinnamon Stacey
Box Office Manager
Anne Marie Szucs
Bar & Concession Manager
John Dolphin

A special and heartfelt thank you to all the wonderful volunteers for Front of House positions during the run of 5 @ 50!

John Anderson, Vivan Binnema, Leslie Caffaro, Rob Cauti, Anneliese Coutu, Alle DeMelo, John Dolphin, Laura Eschak, Kristen Finlay, Richard Hatfield, Rahim Iqbal, Ron Johnson, Sandy Johnson, Shelby Johnson, Dylan MacKay, Louise Mallory, Mary-Ellen Perley, Monica Roberts, Jenn Robinson, Heidi Ryll, Judy Stelck, Leland Stelck, Michael Tilleard, Violet Tilleard, Rachel Whipple, Tracy Wyman, Dave Wolkowski, and Phil Zyp.