It may only be Week 1, but Copenhagen already seems a strong candidate for one of the most challenging and complex plays of this term. It has something for every subject, as an artist’s attempt to make moral sense out of science - it even makes a stab at quantum mechanics. Refreshingly, this is not a play about misunderstandings; we see more than enough of those. This is a play about hundreds of different kinds of understanding, all shouting to be heard.

The central conceit is that three figures in twentieth century theoretical physics – Heisenberg, Bohr and Bohr’s assistant/wife – mystically get the chance to replay crucial moments in their relationship. Their encounters cover the time of Nazi occupation of the Bohrs’ native Denmark, and Heisenberg’s work for the German nuclear project; after the war, when the world had settled into new patterns and blame began to be assigned; and after the death of all three characters.

I don’t know whether to call this structure religious or scientific, a modern morality play or an elaborate theoretical metaphor. At times Heisenberg and Bohr seem to be in a kind of purgatory, rehashing their crimes under the jaded eye of Kay Dent as Margrethe Bohr, an omniscient jailer. At others, the jarring conflict of different possible outcomes looks more like an illustration of many worlds theory. Although an interesting concept, this is also the play’s main flaw. The endless reworking of possible speeches isn’t just unattainable in reality – it’s not much fun either. The acting remains passionate and the script fluent, but the audience risks becoming just as weary of Heisenberg’s constant defensive reiterations as he does.

Still, the play is fascinating as a forensic examination of personalities. Over the course of two hours, easy depictions of good and bad decay and mutate. Particular credit has to go to Tom Stuchfield for his exceptional portrayal of a nervous and frustrated Heisenberg, although all of the three actors do a good job of keeping track of their characters’ endless nuances. When Heisenberg is described as a light particle – both a particle and a wave, both a thing and a disturbance in other things – it’s really applicable to every character, as they circle and collide with one another in complex patterns. Theoretical physics might sound out of place in the Corpus Playroom, but Copenhagen is well worth your attention.