We round up the reviews for Michael Frayn’s drama which plays at the Hampstead Theatre until the 2nd May.
The Guardian: *** “The drama sometimes feels sleepy, despite that mystery, and despite the thrilling aesthetics of Joanna Scotcher’s set design, a gloriously non-realist circle surrounded by water, the latter a nifty visual reference to the “heavy water” used for Nazi bomb-making, perhaps, as well as the boating accident in which one of the Bohrs’ sons died.”
Everything Theatre: *** “There is a lot to like here; it feels like there should be more and it should be more compelling. I expect the cast to settle down naturally through more performances. Perhaps by the end of the run, this could be shining a little brighter. “
The Arts Desk: *** “Director Michael Longhurst and his designers offer an elegant and very effective presentation of the play. The stage is comprised of concentric circles, the outer rim revolving around the centre; to the back, an array of lanterns; around the outside a pool of dark water; on stage nothing but three chairs. When the actors enter, their forms are shrouded in specs of light, giving them the appearance of holograms, or atoms sparking into life. It’s a brilliant effect, which speaks both to the spectral setting but also to the scientific debate; at one point Molony moves a chair from the centre to the water and, when he returns it, shakes the water as though removing some alien substance.”
The Telegraph: **** “Mistakes by Richard Schiff and Alex Kingston can’t dampen this commendable staging of 1998 hit Copenhagen.”
Theatre & Tonic: *** “Overall this is a deeply poignant play that feels powerfully resonate in our modern political turmoil, where the threat of nuclear warfare unfortunately does not feel as far away as it did in the 90s. If you enjoy scientific exploration, brilliant actors and a stimulating night at the theatre then this is the show for you.”
WhatsOnStage: **** “Longhurst’s achievement is to embody the way that theoretical physics guides their discourse within a setting, designed by Joanna Scotcher, that enables them to interact like the nucleus, atoms, particles and photons they are constantly studying and seeking to understand.”
All That Dazzles: *** “Though it has its moments, particularly in its design and one of the performances in particular, this production is in need of a bit of fine-tuning to make the dialogue all the more interesting and to pick up the pacing to stop it from feeling as slow as it did at times. Still an enjoyable albeit imperfect evening, it may not fully resolve its own uncertainties, but it remains an intriguing experience nonetheless.”
London Theatre.co.uk: *** “But despite an often ominous soundscape and the deployment of three chairs that get tossed this way and that in accordance with the text, Joanna Scotcher’s clever dual-revolve turntable set can’t disguise a sense that the three actors on view haven’t all arrived at the same place. One might even say that they at times seem as adrift as a set encircled by water. (Neil Austin’s lighting at one point revisits the blinding effect he deployed last autumn in Born With Teeth.)”
Time Out: *** “Copenhagen remains an impressive play, although I couldn’t love it. Maybe it’s had its day; maybe the performances weren’t quite there; maybe smartphones have disintegrated our frontal lobes to the point we can’t appreciate it as much as our ’90s ancestors; maybe I was distracted pondering how exactly its treatment of the dropping of the bomb as a monolithic thing locked in the past would stand up if the Americans bombed Iran. Whatever the reason, it’s remarkable, but less explosive than it once was.”
London Theatre 1: *** “In what is a very wordy play, the narrative just about pulls back from getting too stuck into the minutiae of what was scientific progress at the time, by way of contrived insertions of background details from years and decades before. Of course, Bohr and Heisenberg (or is it Heisenberg and Bohr?) knew each other well enough not to require one another’s backstories to be spoken out loud.”
The Stage: **** “Visceral revival of Michael Frayn’s compelling, elliptical dive into science and moral responsibility.”
West End Best Friend: *** “Copenhagen is a complex and unusual play and this production does much to recreate its power and grip, though without perhaps quite reaching the required clarity regarding its subject matter.”
The Reviews Hub: *** 1/2 “Scotcher’s set is gorgeously evocative of an afterlife dominated by science and time. Bulbs hang low from the ceiling like so many flashing atomic particles (Neil Austin’s lighting design is first class throughout). A central circular revolving dais, edged in strip light and immersed in liquid, is etched with what could either be a clock face or an image of an atom. Complimentarily suggests it is probably both, and equally probably neither.”
To book tickets visit: https://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/whats-on/2026/copenhagen/