The Balagula Theatre: Michael Frayn's Play "Copenhagen" (10/1-10/5)

(From The Lexington Project. This sounds like a great sunday afternoon event. This theater is just one of the many offerings available at our downtown eatery Natasha's Cafe)

** Tues-Thurs/Oct. 3-5 - The Balagula Theatre presents Michael Frayn’s “Copenhagen” at Natasha's Café

The Balagula Theatre, arguably Lexington’s most innovative theater troupe, presents “Copenhagen,” a play by Michael Frayn, October 3-5 at Natasha’s Café, 112 Esplanade (across from the Kentucky Theatre). Directed by Natasha Williams and Ed Desiato and starring Ryan H. Case, Janet Scott and Adam Luckey, the production will run on the following schedule:

Matinée Soup Performance: Sunday, October 1
Show begins at 2pm. Tickets: Donations Accepted
Bring your own bowl for complimentary soup to enjoy during the performance

Public Performances: October 3-5
Seating for dinner between 6:30pm-7:15pm; Show begins at 8pm
Tickets: $12 General admission with dinner seating/ $15 limited show-only seating

Student Group Shows: October 3-4
Seating for dinner between 6:30pm-7:15pm; Show begins at 8pm
Tickets: $9 Students / $12 General admission with dinner seating/ $15 limited show-only seating

For a full synopsis of the play, visit http://beetnik.com/Curent%20Productions.htm. For reservations, call 859/259-2754

The play begins with an urgent question—Why? Why did Werner Heisenberg need to visit Niels Bohr in 1941, in the middle of World War II, when such a trip meant risking his life and the physicists' friendship? What could possibly have been so urgent?

Margrethe's question sets off an unstoppable reaction, and the question soon takes on a life of its own. Bohr, Heisenberg, and Margrethe are determined to find an answer, no matter what dark and winding road they must travel. Together, these three ghosts of the past relive that evening in 1941, along with several other important moments in their lives. Bohr and Heisenberg conjure the memory of their hike across Denmark and their visit to Elsinore.

We join the two of them on a ski trip. We witness the moment when they first met, the instant when the two formed some of the most important hypotheses in physics, the night wherein Heisenberg met his wife, the day when Bohr's eldest son died, and Hiesenberg's heartbreaking trip across a war-ravaged Germany. Each anecdote brings us closer to these characters and helps us see the motives at the heart of their actions (and reactions). The life of a broken family unfolds before us as they search for the truth behind the event that tore them apart--an event which may have altered all of human history.

So why did Heisenberg travel to Denmark in 1941? Perhaps he needed moral guidance from his life-long mentor. Perhaps he was attempting to gather information concerning the American nuclear program, or to halt that program before it began. Perhaps he was searching for an answer to a problem which he himself could not solve. In the end, Heisenberg himself is unable to pinpoint a reason. Uncertainty is at the core of his intentions, and the only discernable cause of his actions is "Elsinore"—the darkness inside the human soul.

To Read More About the Play

Also upcoming:

** Thurs-Fri/Oct 12-13 – Surprise Theatre: “Tales of the Macabre” at Natasha’s Cafe
The return of Natasha’s acclaimed “Surprise Theatre.” Balagula Theatre’s unique brand of theatre returns with “Tales of the Macabre” Thursday, October 12 and Friday, the 13th at Natasha’s Café, 112 Esplanade. A recent email from Natasha’s summed it up nicely, “Four shows, two nights, and one hell of a Friday the 13th!” Performance times are Thursday Oct. 12 at 7pm and midnight, and Friday the 13th, 6pm and 9pm. Admission is $5, all ages welcome. To reserve seats, call 859/259-2754.