#michael frayn

[icouldwaitforever]

Michael Frayn, Noises Off

[wellconstructedsentences]

I was formed by nature to be a mathematically curious entity, not one, but half of two.

Copenhagen by Michael Frayn

[noneun]

Quel nucleo finale di indeterminazione

Bohr: Prima che possiamo afferrare qualcosa, la nostra vita è finita. Heisenberg: Prima che possiamo capire chi e che cosa siamo, siamo finiti e ridotti in polvere. Bohr: Sepolti da tutta la polvere che abbiamo sollevato. Margrethe: E prima o poi, verrà il tempo in cui tutti i nostri figli saranno ridotti in polvere; e tutti i figli dei nostri figli. Bohr: Quando non si prenderanno più decisioni, grandi o piccole che siano. Quando non vi sarà più indeterminazione, perché non vi sarà più conoscenza. Margrethe: E quando tutti i nostri occhi saranno chiusi, quando anche i fantasmi saranno scomparsi, che cosa rimarrà del nostro beneamato mondo? Del nostro devastato e disonorato e beneamato mondo? Heisenberg: Ma nel frattempo, in questa preziosissima frazione di tempo, qualcosa c'è. Gli alberi di Faelled Park. Gammertingen e Biberach e Mindelheim. I nostri figli e i figli dei nostri figli. Salvati, forse, da quell'unico breve istante a Copenaghen. Da un qualche evento che non sarà mai esattamente individuato o definito. Da quel nucleo finale di indeterminazione che sta nel cuore delle cose.

—Copenhagen, battute finali dell'opera teatrale di Micheal Frayn, che ricostruisce l'incontro fra il fisico danese Niels Bohr e quello tedesco Werner Heisenberger, avvenuto nel 1941 nella Danimarca occupata dall'esercito tedesco.

Se volete saperne di più sul programma nucleare della Germania nazista, sull'incontro del 1941 che pose fine all'amicizia fra Bohr e Heisenberg e sui dilemmi etici che agitarono le menti di due premi Nobel, fatevi un favore: guardate quest'opera teatrale (link in fondo).

L'argomento, di per sé interessante, lo è ancora di più perché se ne parla molto poco. Il recente film di Christopher Nolan "Oppenheimer" narra ovviamente della ricerca per la creazione della bomba atomica nel versante statunitense, con un singolo breve accenno a Heisenberg. Ma mi sono sempre chiesto cosa fosse successo nella Germania nazista, che cosa impedì di arrivare all'obiettivo, pur partendo in netto anticipo.

Questo spettacolo non solo getta luce su tale quesito, ma mostra un lato fortemente umano della Scienza, del quale troppo spesso dimentichiamo l'esistenza ma che ne influenza enormemente il progresso e la direzione del progresso.

Spettacolo teatrale regia Mauro Avogadro con Massimo Popolizio, Umberto Orsini, Giuliana Lojodice: video su Rai Play

Copione tradotto in italiano da Maria Teresa Petruzzi e Filippo Ottoni: PDF.

[davidhudson]

Anton Chekhov, January 29, 1860 – July 15, 1904.

[ulrichgebert]

Endlich einmal wieder “Let’s put on a show!” mit Michael Frayn und Michael Caine. Aber es ist eine schreckliche Farce. Man braucht ein Wunder. Und einen Teller Sardinen.

[noosphe-re]

By our inmost animal nature we are readers. We read the world around us continuously, obsessively, necessarily. Reading our notations is a late specialization of that skill.

Michael Frayn, Constructions

[bcth-uk]

I made this sort of a leaflet for BBC Radio 3 Copenhagen to remind you that if you haven’t listened to it yet, you can still do it here (until 23 June 2020).

*a couple of words about the play and some bits of the interview about it with Benedict - under the cut*

“Michael Frayn’s award-winning play about history, morality, and quantum mechanics. A powerful exploration of the uncertainties of human memory and motivation.”

The play is really good, it’s full of deep philosophical questions, food for thought. At some point it made me remember “The Imitation Game”. Here we see 2 other scientists with the power to change the course of the war. It’s extraordinary to think how much the outcome of the human history was defined by chance and by actions or inaction of certain people…A really thought-provoking piece, I truly recommend it.

I also like the description of the play from 2013 interview with Benedict about it: “Copenhagen is really about mankind’s constant, hopeless quest for understanding, of the universe and of each other. Another person’s motivations and feelings can’t ever be nailed down.”

The link to this interview, where Benedict talks about the play and the recording of it, about radio work, is in the source ⬇️ for those who might want to take a look.

Reading the beginning of this interview is fun, it’s back from the time the play was recorded and yet now in 2020 we also had the pleasure of simultaneously hearing Benedict on the radio in Rumpole, Cabin Pressure and Copenhagen. History repeats itself :)

[In case you missed it - here are the links.]

“A radio studio is sanctuary from the crazy world outside, but what makes Cumberbatch a particularly good fit for the medium is his deep, commanding voice” says the interview and I have a Cabin Pressure flashback reading it: “Who is this commanding presence? Can it be Sir? It can.” 😄 (also I managed to refrain from commenting on Benedict’s voice so far, because it’s kinda the obvious part and everybody knows it, but God, does he sound sublime!)

Radio’s focus on the pure power of the human voice is something that genuinely excites him. “I love Radio 3. I’m Radio 3 in the car as well. And Radio 4: I change between the two, I’m not religious about it. Radio’s something I go back to if I’ve been out of the country for any length of time. I still find the magical art [when acting on radio] of what effect you are having, how the space is constructed, what the mic’s doing, is a mystery. It’s nice to really intensely concentrate on and listen to the word and the sense of the word. Radio’s a joy. It’s just a joy.”

Hard same, Benedict, hard same 😊

[justforbooks]

Michael Frayn: ‘Keep it all nice and simple’

There’s nothing I can tell you – you know it all already. You wrote those letters home describing your adventures on your travels. You told those stories about the people you work with that made everyone laugh so much. So just write another letter home, but this time about some adventures you didn’t have yourself. Tell us a story about some people you don’t actually work with. Yes – invent a few characters, and they’ll be so grateful to you for bringing them into the world that they’ll do things off their own bat and make up their own dialogue, which will spare you a lot of hard work. And they’ll be a bit of company for you in your isolation. Then just choose the right start point and get everything in the right order – exactly the way you did in your letters and stories – and you’re pretty much there. Keep it all nice and simple, and have a good time doing it. If you enjoy it yourself, just possibly someone else might, too.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com