Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play, Drama Desk Award and New York Drama Critics Award for Best Play in 2000.
The Tony Award-winning Copenhagen is an explosive re-imagining of the mysterious wartime meeting between two scientists to discuss the atomic bomb.
It is 1941. Nations race to perfect The Bomb, and two Nobel Laureates meet in occupied Denmark for a conversation that will change the course of history. German physicist Werner Heisenberg and...
“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
In-person event
English
≈ 2 hours and 30 minutes
· With intermission
NAC English Theatre Production
By Michael Frayn
Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play, Drama Desk Award and New York Drama Critics Award for Best Play in 2000.
The Tony Award-winning Copenhagen is an explosive re-imagining of the mysterious wartime meeting between two scientists to discuss the atomic bomb.
It is 1941. Nations race to perfect The Bomb, and two Nobel Laureates meet in occupied Denmark for a conversation that will change the course of history. German physicist Werner Heisenberg and his Danish counterpart, Niels Bohr, had revolutionized atomic science in the 1920s, but now they were on opposite sides of a world war.
Critically-acclaimed since its premiere, Michael Frayn's riveting drama puts you in the heart of one of the greatest moral dilemmas of the 20th century.
Theatre and Physics Symposium Panels
The Theatre and Physics Symposium will offer NAC audiences a series of parallel conversations sparked by the plays, culminating in a world-expanding, mind-bending investigation led by some of modern physics’ greatest thought leaders from across Canada, moderated by Host of CBC Ideas, Nahlah Ayed.
The Nature of Uncertainty
Sunday, November 7 at 12 noon
Panelists Jillian Keiley, Dr. Jason Holt, Bernie Petit
Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen revolves around the conundrum of what’s actually knowable in both physics and human relationships
The performance of Copenhagen on Thursday, November 4 is a preview. Tickets to this preview performance are all $15.
Copenhagen is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.
Jillian Keiley has directed and taught across Canada and internationally. She was the founding Artistic Director of Artistic Fraud. Highlights from her 27 years with the company include In Your Dreams Freud, Under Wraps, AfterImage, The Cheat, The Chekhov Variations, and Salvage: Story of a House, Oil and Water, Between Breaths, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, and I Forgive You, most of which were featured on tours across Canada including the NAC. Jillian assumed her role as NAC English Theatre Artistic Director in 2012 and finished her tenure in 2022. Other NAC productions include A Christmas Carol, Twelfth Night, Metamorphoses: Based on the Myths of Ovid and Copenhagen. She also directed Bakkhai, The Diary of Anne Frank, and As You Like It for the Stratford Festival, as well as The Neverending Story and Alice Through the Looking-Glass, both produced as collaborations between the Stratford Festival and the NAC. Tempting Providence, her collaboration with Robert Chafe for Theatre Newfoundland Labrador, toured internationally for 12 years. Her production of Tell Tale Harbour at the Confederation Centre for the Arts was a blockbuster hit at the Confederation Centre this past summer and she looks forward to opening summer productions of Richard the Second at the Stratford Festival and Come From Away in Gander, Newfoundland. Jillian holds Honorary Doctorates of Letters from both Memorial University and York University, and she was the winner of the Siminovitch Prize for Directing in 2004 and the Canada Council’s John Hirsch Prize in 1997.
Metteure en scène primée de St. John’s, à Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador, Jillian Keiley est la fondatrice de la compagnie de théâtre Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland. Elle a signé des mises en scène et enseigné partout au Canada, et elle a aussi travaillé à l’étranger. Titulaire d’un baccalauréat en Beaux-arts avec concentration en Théâtre de l’Université York, Mme Keiley a remporté le prestigieux prix Siminovitch (mise en scène) en 2004, ainsi que le prix John-Hirsch du Conseil des arts du Canada, et a reçu des doctorats honorifiques en Lettres de l’Université Memorial et de l’Université York. Jillian est entrée en poste comme directrice aretistique du Théâtre anglais du CNA en août 2012, et les productions qu’elle a mises en scène au CNA comprennent The Neverending Story, Between Breaths, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, A Christmas Carol, Twelfth Night, Metamorphoses: Based on the Myths of Ovid, Tartuffe, Oil and Water et Alice Through the Looking-Glass. Récemment, elle a mis en scène Bakkhai, The Diary of Anne Frank et As You Like It pour le Festival de Stratford, et ses productions de Tartuffe (CNA) et The Colony of Unrequited Dreams (Artistic Fraud) ont tourné à Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador. Tempting Providence, fruit de sa collaboration avec Robert Chafe pour Theatre Newfoundland Labrador, a tourné sur la scène mondiale pendant douze ans et a été la production inaugurale lors du lancement du Nurse Myra Bennett Theatre à Cow Head, Terre-Neuve, l’été dernier.
Allegra Fulton is an award-winning actress whose distinguished career on stage and screen has taken her across Canada, the U.S. and Europe, where she has also worked as a director. Best known for playing iconoclasts and dangerous women, she has been praised for her portrayals of high-powered characters in both classical theatre at the Stratford and Shaw festivals and in the international modern repertoire in theatres all over. She has appeared in over 75 films and television series including Guillermo Del Toro’s Oscar® winning The Shape of Water, David Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars, as well as Run This Town, Strange But True, The Good Doctor, Chapelwaite, Moonshine, Schitts Creek, 19-2, Suits,Fargo, Cardinal, Kim’s Convenience, and Workin’ Moms among many others. Ms. Fulton is delighted to be back at the NAC with Copenhagen once again
Allegra Fulton est une comédienne primée dont la carrière distinguée sur scène et à l’écran l’a menée à travers le Canada, les États-Unis et l’Europe, où elle a également travaillé comme réalisatrice. Mieux connue pour ses rôles d’iconoclastes et de femmes dangereuses, elle a été saluée pour ses interprétations de personnages haut placés, tant dans le théâtre classique des festivals de Stratford et de Shaw que dans le répertoire moderne international des théâtres du monde entier. Elle a joué dans plus de 75 films et séries télévisées, dont The Shape of Water de Guillermo Del Toro, primé aux Oscars®, Maps to the Stars de David Cronenberg, ainsi que Run This Town, Strange But True, The Good Doctor, Chapelwaite, Moonshine, Schitts Creek, 19-2, Suits, Fargo, Cardinal, Kim’s Convenience et Workin' Moms, pour n’en citer que quelques-uns. Allegra Fulton est ravie d’être de retour au CNA avec Copenhagen.
Jesse LaVercombe is a writer and actor based in the U.S. and Canada. WRITING WORK, Feature Films: Float (Lionsgate/Collective Pictures); Code 8: Part ll (Netflix/Collective Pictures); (Theatre) Gilgamesh & Enkidu (with Seth Bockley and Ahmed Moneka, featuring Moneka’s band) – premiere in Toronto in 2022, run at La MaMa in NYC in 2023, Winner of the 2019 Playwrights Guild of Canada Emerging Playwright Award. ACTING WORK, Film/TV: Violation (Toronto ACTRA Award/Canadian Screen Award Nomination); Murdoch Mysteries (recurring role of Jack Walker); Theatre: Tarragon Theatre; Factory Theatre; The Jungle Theater (Minneapolis, MN); Marigny Opera House (New Orleans, LA). Training, National Theatre School, Canadian Film Centre.
Jesse LaVercombe est un écrivain et comédien basé aux États-Unis et au Canada. TRAVAIL D’ÉCRITURE, Longs métrages : Float (Lionsgate/Collective Pictures) ; Code 8 : Part ll (Netflix/Collective Pictures); (Théâtre) Gilgamesh & Enkidu (avec Seth Bockley et Ahmed Moneka, mettant en vedette le groupe de Moneka) - première à Toronto en 2022, tournée à La MaMa à New York en 2023, Prix du dramaturge émergent de la Playwrights Guild of Canada. TRAVAIL DE COMÉDIEN, Film/TV : Violation (prix ACTRA Toronto/finaliste aux Canadian Screen Awars); Murdoch Mysteries (rôle récurrent de Jack Walker); Théâtre : Tarragon Theatre; Factory Theatre; The Jungle Theater (Minneapolis, MN); Marigny Opera House (New Orleans, LA). Formation : École nationale de théâtre du Canada, Institut canadien du film.
Rick appeared in R+J (Stratford Festival). His digital play Orestes premiered at the Tarragon Theatre this year. Recent appearances include Nurses (Corus/Global); This Life and Fortunate Son (CBC); All My Puny Sorrows and the upcoming film North of Albany (Slykid & Skykid). He played the role of Jack Layton in the CBC TV movie Jack. He recently appeared at the NAC in Why Not Theatre’s Prince Hamlet. Other recent favourites include Animal Farm, Waiting for Godot, The Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Soulpepper); Within the Glass and Enemy of the People (Tarragon Theatre). Rick has written and directed several plays and has developed projects for television. He is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada.
Rick a joué dans R+J (Festival de Stratford). Parmi ses apparitions récentes, citons Nurses (Corus/Global), Fortunate Son et This Life (CBC); All My Puny Sorrows et North of Albany (Slykid & Skykid). Il a joué le rôle de Jack Layton dans le téléfilm Jack de la CBC, pour lequel il a reçu le Canadian Screen Award et le prix ACTRA du meilleur comédien. Il a récemment joué au CNA dans Prince Hamlet de Why Not Theatre. Parmi ses autres coups de cœur récents, mentionnons Animal Farm, Waiting for Godot, The Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Soulpepper); Within the Glass et Enemy of the People (Tarragon Theatre). Rick a écrit et mis en scène plusieurs pièces et a développé des projets pour la télévision. Il est diplômé de l’École nationale de théâtre du Canada.
Selected Theatre: It's a Wonderful Life (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); Chariots of Fire (Grand Theatre); Charles III (Studio 180/ Mirvish Productions); Saint Joan, Mrs. Warren's Profession, The Divine, Pygmalion, The Sea, Major Barbara, Our Betters, Misalliance, When the Rain Stops Falling, Candida (Shaw Festival); The Prince of Homburg (Talk is Free Theatre); A Christmas Carol, Pride and Prejudice (Citadel Theatre).
Film/Television: Frontier, Workin’ Moms, Anne with an E, Locke and Key, Frankie Drake, Murdoch Mysteries.
Training: George Brown Theatre School, Banff Citadel Professional Theatre Program, Canterbury High School.
Sélection de théâtre : It’s a Wonderful Life (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); Chariots of Fire (Grand Theatre); Charles III (Studio 180/ Mirvish Productions); Saint Joan, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, The Divine, Pygmalion, The Sea, Major Barbara, Our Betters, Misalliance, When the Rain Stops Falling, Candida (Shaw Festival); The Prince of Homburg (Talk is Free Theatre); A Christmas Carol, Pride and Prejudice (Citadel Theatre).
Film/Télévision : Frontier, Workin’ Moms, Anne with an E, Locke and Key, Frankie Drake, Murdoch Mysteries.
Formation : École de théâtre George Brown, Programme de théâtre professionnel de Banff Citadel, École secondaire Canterbury.
Previous designs for the NAC include The Sound of Music and Anne & Gilbert: The Musical. As a designer and educator, Roger has worked extensively throughout Canada for many companies including the Great Canadian Theatre Company, Alberta Theatre Projects, Curtain Razors, The Globe Theatre, Theatre Network, Mayfield Dinner Theatre, Keyano Theatre and Prairie Theatre Exchange. Roger has a couple Prix Rideau Award nominations and a win, some Capital Critics Circle Award nominations, a couple Betty Mitchell Award nominations, multiple Roger Sterling Award nominations and wins, and a Dora Mavor Moore Award nomination from a very, very long time ago. He also once taught theatre design at the University of Lethbridge (Alberta).
Roger a réalisé plusieurs projets pour le CNA, dont The Sound of Music et Anne & Gilbert: The Musical. En tant que concepteur et éducateur, Roger a beaucoup travaillé à travers le Canada pour de nombreuses compagnies, notamment Great Canadian Theatre Company, Alberta Theatre Projects, Curtain Razors, The Globe Theatre, Theatre Network, et lauréat aux Prix Rideau Award, ainsi que finaliste aux prix Capital Critics Circle, finaliste aux prix Betty Mitchell, finaliste et lauréat à plusieurs reprises aux prix Roger Sterling et finaliste aux prix Dora Mavor Moore il y a très, très longtemps. Il a également enseigné la conception théâtrale à l’Université de Lethbridge, en Alberta.
An award-winning lighting designer, writer and performer, Itai is Artistic Director of the Elbow Theatre in Vancouver. His one-man show How to Disappear Completely (The Chop, directed by James Long) has been remounted 30 times in 26 cities, and continues to tour. Itai has designed over 300 shows across North America and Europe. He has been awarded six Jessie Richardson Awards, Toronto’s Dora Mavor Moore Award, a Winnipeg Theatre Award, the Jack King Award, Victoria’s Spotlight Choice Award and the Design Award at the 2008 Dublin Fringe Festival. He was shortlisted for the Siminovitch Prize in 2018.
Comncepteur d’éclairage, auteur et interprète primé, Itai est directeur artistique d’Elbow Theatre à Vancouver. Son spectacle solo How to Disappear Completely (The Chop, mis en scène par James Long) a été remonté 30 fois dans 26 villes, et continue de tourner. Itai a conçu plus de 300 spectacles en Amérique du Nord et en Europe. Il a reçu six prix Jessie Richardson, le prix Dora Mavor Moore de Toronto, un prix du Winnipeg Theatre, le prix Jack King, le prix Spotlight Choice de Victoria et le prix de la conception au Fringe Festival de Dublin 2008. Il a été finaliste au prix Siminovitch en 2018.
Sound design credits include The Neverending Story (NAC/Stratford Festival); Anne and Gilbert, A Christmas Carol (NAC); Bakkhai, The Diary of Anne Frank, As You Like It (Stratford Festival);The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, Oil and Water, Under Wraps, Afterimage, Fear of Flight (Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland); Ann and Seamus (Shallaway); Rick Mercer's Show Me the Button, I'll Push It. Film/TV: Boom Operator: Republic of Doyle, Random Passage (CBC); Love and Savagery (Morag); Rare Birds. Production sound: Danny (NFB); Misery Harbour (UIP Denmark). Producer/engineer: Hunter Hunter, Spectators (Amelia Curran); Dardanelles, The Eastern Light (Dardanelles); The Once, We Win Some We Lose (The Once); All Will Be Well (Fortunate Ones). Musician: Boy on Bridge (Alan Doyle). Awards: JUNO for Hunter Hunter; East Coast Music Award for The Once, Duane Andrews; MUSIC NL - Industry Professional of the Year.
Les conceptions sonores signées Don Ellis comprennent : The Neverending Story (CNA/Festival de Stratford); Anne and Gilbert, A Christmas Carol (CNA); Bakkhai, The Diary of Anne Frank, As You Like It (Festival de Stratford); The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, Oil and Water, Under Wraps, Afterimage, Fear of Flight (Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland); Ann and Seamus (Shallaway); Show Me the Button, I’ll Push It de Rick Mercer. Il a été perchiste au cinéma et à la télévision, dans Republic of Doyle et Random Passage (CBC), Love and Savagery (Morag) et Rare Birds. On lui doit la sonorisation de Danny (ONF) et de Misery Harbour (UIP Danemark). Il a agi comme producteur et ingénieur du son dans : Hunter Hunter, Spectators (Amelia Curran); Dardanelles, The Eastern Light (Dardanelles); The Once, We Win Some We Lose (The Once); All Will Be Well (Fortunate Ones). Comme musicien, on l’a entendu dans Boy on Bridge (Alan Doyle). Don a également remporté plusieurs prix, dont un prix JUNO pour Hunter Hunter, le East Coast Music Award pour The Once, Duane Andrews et un prix MUSIC NL comme Professionnel de l’année dans l’industrie.
Mikaela Lily Davies is an actor, director and creator. She is a 2020 graduate of the prestigious CBC Canadian Film Centre's Acting Conservatory. She has performed in eight shows with Soulpepper Theatre (Two Dora Mavor Moore nominations for Best Ensemble) and spent four seasons at The Stratford Festival, playing Katherine of France in Breath of Kings, Irma in The Madwoman of Chaillot and Beatrice-Joanna in The Changeling. She is a graduate of the Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Direction and the inaugural recipient of the Jon Kaplan Canadian Stage Performer Award. She holds a Elizabeth Sterling Hayes Award nomination for Outstanding Comedic Performance for the titular role Miss Bennet at The Citadel Theatre and a Montreal English Theatre Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Performance for her work as Bess in The Last Wife at The Centaur Theatre. She has directed and created a handful of plays with Polly Phokeev including the award-winning How We Are, and The Mess. You can see her on this season's Murdoch Mysteries and hear her on Audible, voicing Lila in Camilla Gibb's beautiful novel, The Relatives. Most recently, she directed and co-created a new original musical adaptation of Master and Margarita created with Phokeev and Hailey Gillis, that received a workshop production at Crow's Theatre.
Mikaela Lily Davies est comédienne, metteure en scène et créatrice de nouvelles œuvres. Elle joué dans huit spectacles au théâtre Soulpepper et a passé quatre saisons au Festival de Stratford (Katherine de France dans Breath of Kings, Irma dans The Madwoman of Chaillot et Beatrice-Joanna dans The Changeling). Elle est comme comédienne et membre du Michael Langham Conservatory for Classical Direction. Mme Davies est la première lauréate du Jon Kaplan Canadian Stage Performer Award, et a été mise en nomination pour un prix Elizabeth Sterling Haynes pour sa prestation dans Miss Bennet, ainsi qu’un Montreal English Theatre Award pour sa prestation dans The Last Wife.
Brian is happy and grateful to return to the NAC. Thank you’s to Jillian, Andy, Samira, the Copenhagen Company, and all the staff at NAC English Theatre. Previous productions at the National Arts Centre include the just-before-the-pandemic-hit TheNeverending Story,Alice Through The Looking-Glass (both produced in association with the Stratford Festival) and Frida K.
The original stage manager on this production of Copenhagen is Kai Yueh Chen. Brian would like to thank Kai for all of his help and assistance on this second rehearsal/performance process.
Brian lives in Stratford, Ontario.
Brian est heureux et reconnaissant de revenir au CNA. Merci à Jillian, Andy, Samira, à la Copenhagen Company et à tout le personnel du Théâtre anglais du CNA. Parmi ses précédentes productions au Centre national des Arts, citons The Neverending Story, Alice Through The Looking-Glass (toutes deux produites en association avec le Festival de Stratford) et Frida K.
Le régisseur original de cette production de Copenhagen est Kai Yueh Chen. Brian souhaite remercier Kai pour toute son aide et son assistance lors de ce deuxième processus de répétition/spectacle.
J is a multidisciplinary theatre artist from Ottawa, Ontario. They are a graduate of the Algonquin College Theatre Arts program and wear many hats in the community with credits in stage management, performance, and design. Assistant stage management credits include Lo (Or Dear Mr. Wells); Macbeth (Great Canadian Theatre Company); and The Blizzard of Oz (Ottawa Musicals). Stage Management credits include Honey Dew Me (theatre decentered: Undercurrents Festival 2020); and Fierce, A Christmas Carol (Black Sheep Theatre).
J est artiste de théâtre multidisciplinaire d’Ottawa, en Ontario. Diplômé du programme d’arts du théâtre du Collège Algonquin, J porte plusieurs chapeaux dans la communauté en régie, jeu et conception. Parmi ses rôles d’apprenti régisseur, mentionnons Lo (ou Dear Mr. Wells), Macbeth (Great Canadian Theatre Company) et The Blizzard of Oz (Ottawa Musicals). Parmi ses réalisations en régie, mentionnons Honey Dew Me (theatre decentered: Festival Undercurrents 2020); et Fierce, A Christmas Carol (Black Sheep Theatre).
Michael Frayn was born in London in 1933 and began his career as a journalist on the Guardian and the Observer. Spies was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize 2002 and won the Whitbread Award for Fiction 2002. Headlong was shortlisted for the 1999 Booker Prize, the Whitbread Novel Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction. Other novels include Towards the End of the Morning, The Trick of It and A Landing on The Sun, as well as The Tin Men, Now You Know, Sweet Dreams and Celia’s Secret. His thirteen plays range from Noises Off to Copenhagen, and he has translated a number of works, mostly from the Russian. His play, Democracy, received the Evening Standard Best Play Award and transferred to the Wyndhams Theatre after a hugely successful run at the National Theatre.
Né à Londres en 1933, Michael Frayn a commencé sa carrière de journaliste au Guardian et à l’Observer. En 2002, son roman Espions a été sélectionné pour le prix Man Booker et a remporté le prix Whitbread (fiction). Son roman Headlong a été cité pour le prix Booker, le prix Whitbread (roman) et le James-Tait-Black Memorial Prize for Fiction en 1999. Parmi ses autres romans, notons Towards the End of the Morning, The Trick of It, A Landing on the Sun, The Tin Men, Now You Know, Sweet Dreams et Celia’s Secret. Frayn est l’auteur de treize pièces de théâtre, allant de Silence en coulisses à Copenhague; il a en outre traduit plusieurs œuvres, principalement du russe. Sacrée meilleure pièce de théâtre par l’Evening Standard en 2003, Democracy a été présentée au Wyndhams Theatre suivant un énorme succès à sa création au National Theatre.
