Readings of ‘Copenhagen’ at Bridge Street Theatre

The Rhinebeck Theatre Society will open a tour of the play “Copenhagen” with four staged readings starting Thursday, July 20, at Bridge Street Theatre, 44 W. Bridge St., Catskill.

“Copenhagen” is an explosive confrontation between science and politics as it explores the individual’s ability to change the course of world events. It’s hard to imagine that a play in which three dead people discussing atomic physics could be electrifying and intensely emotional. Yet this riveting drama, full of crackle and vitality, delivers a literary and theatrical punch that stays with audiences long after the curtain has fallen.

On the surface, “Copenhagen” turns around a mysterious 1941 meeting between the esteemed Danish physicist Niels Bohr and his former pupil, the German scientist Werner Heisenberg. Old friends who had revolutionized atomic science during the 1920s, they are now on opposite sides in World War II. But the science, it turns out, is merely a vehicle, a metaphor for a wrenching probe into deeply human quandaries and contradictions.

“Copenhagen takes us to the boundaries of human understanding, questioning what, if anything, we can ever know,” director Ellen Honig said in a press release. “It delves into the totally contemporary issue of whether an individual can make a difference in a world undergoing momentous upheaval.

“Copenhagen” features three highly accomplished local actors, with David Smilow as Heisenberg, Andrew Joffe as Bohr and Christina Reeves as Bohr’s wife, Margareta.

Additional readings at the theatre will take place Friday and Saturday, July 21 and 22, and Sunday, July 23, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15, $10 for students ages 21 and under. Tickets may bepurchased in advance at copenhagen catskill. brown paper tickets. com. Tickets are also available at the door 30 minutes before each performance on a space-available basis.

A full production of “Copenhagen” will take place at Byrdcliffe Theater, 144 Upper Byrdcliffe Road, Woodstock, on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 18 and 19 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, August 20, at 2 p.m. A second full production of the play will take place at The Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck, 661 state Route 308, Rhinebeck, on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 22 and 23, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 24 at 3 p.m.

Call (518) 943-3818 or visit bridgest.org for more information.