Yale’s Quantum Theater Adds Drama to Quantum Science With Staging of Copenhagen

Insider Brief

• Yale is staging a production of Copenhagen, a play that explores quantum theory and wartime ethics through the imagined meeting of physicists Heisenberg and Bohr.
• The performance is part of the Yale Quantum Institute’s ongoing efforts to make quantum science more accessible through the arts.
• Directed by a team with backgrounds in both science and theater, the play uses metaphor and drama to engage audiences with core quantum concepts.
• Image: Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg (Illustration by Michael S. Helfenbein)

A meeting between two of quantum physics’ most important minds is being held at Yale — not in a lab, but on stage.

The Yale Quantum Institute is sponsoring a theatrical production of Copenhagen, a Tony Award-winning play that imagines a fateful and mysterious 1941 conversation between German physicist Werner Heisenberg and his former mentor, Danish physicist Niels Bohr. The three-character play, which explores science, morality, and human uncertainty, will be performed May 29 at Yale’s Schwarzman Center and again in September at the University of Connecticut.

The play is the latest in a series of efforts by the Yale Quantum Institute to bridge the gap between scientific complexity and public understanding, using the arts as a gateway into one of the most perplexing domains of modern science: quantum theory. According to Yale News, the production is intended to inspire interest in the field by framing its abstract ideas through story and emotion.

At the center of the production are two individuals whose own lives mirror the entangling of disciplines. Florian Carle, managing director at the Yale Quantum Institute, spent more than a decade as a theater actor before turning to quantum science. Vince Tycer, now a professor of drama at UConn, was once a computer programmer who studied physics before switching to the arts. Their paths crossed through QuantumCT — a state-level public-private effort to build Connecticut’s position in quantum research — and eventually led to their collaboration on Copenhagen, Yale News reports.

First performed in 2000, Michael Frayn’s play takes a speculative look at what Heisenberg and Bohr might have discussed during a brief wartime visit. By 1941, Heisenberg was working on Nazi Germany’s nuclear weapons program; Bohr, still in occupied Denmark, would later escape and join the U.S. Manhattan Project. The historical record of their meeting is vague. What is known is that it ended badly, with Bohr reportedly angry and shaken. Frayn used this uncertainty to create a narrative that explores the boundaries of knowledge — scientific, moral and personal.

Uncertainty is built into quantum physics — and the play, itself, the university reports. The play revisits the same scene multiple times, each with slight variations, reflecting Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, which states that certain pairs of physical properties — like a particle’s position and momentum — cannot both be precisely known. As Yale News explains, Frayn saw this limitation as a metaphor for how people interpret motives and memory, especially under the pressures of war and scientific responsibility.

Rather than try to explain physics in a pedantic way, the production uses metaphor, pacing, and dramatic tension to convey its concepts. According to Yale News, the dialogue is filled with references to core principles of quantum theory, but presented in a way that highlights their emotional and ethical stakes. The goal is not to teach equations, but to spark interest, especially among those unfamiliar with the science.

This initiative is part of a broader educational mission by the Yale Quantum Institute, which launched an artist-in-residence program in 2017. Past collaborations have produced music, visual art, light installations, poetry performances, and exhibitions inspired by quantum mechanics. The theater production of Copenhagen continues that strategy, combining research with storytelling to bring quantum science closer to the public. Yale News notes that the play is also scheduled to run in September at UConn’s Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, expanding its reach across the state.

The creative team behind the performance includes graduate student actors from UConn and a multi-university production crew that spans disciplines and experience levels. As Yale News reports, the production is timed to coincide with the Yale Innovation Summit, underlining the growing interest in cross-sector approaches to science communication and public engagement.