2017-2018 Season
In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer
By Heinar Kipphardt (translated Ruth Speirs)
Director & Set Designer Nigel Maister
Costume Designer Tilly Grimes
Lighting Designer Solomon Weisbard
Sound Designer & Composer Obadiah Eaves
Video Designer Joshua Thorson
Acting & Voice Coach Alexa Scott-Flaherty
October 12–21, 2017
Heinar Kipphardt’s celebrated docu-drama, drawn from the actual transcripts of the infamous Oppenheimer security hearings, is a timely and provocative exploration of the individual’s conscience and the power of the state. How should an individual’s morality respond to the power and needs of national security institutions, and what happens when the product of the mind's creativity and exploration yields both good and evil? How do you escape your past, and is "guilt by association" really guilt at all? In the Atomic Energy Commission’s hearings against the “father” of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer, a mirror is held up to our collective conscience in ways that seem hauntingly relevant in our current political dystopia.
***Join us after the Saturday, October 14 performance for a panel discussion with Professors Robert Westbrook (History), Jonathan Tresan (Philosophy), Regina Demina (Physics), and Theatre Program Artistic Director and production director, Nigel Maister, for a panel on the play, its protagonist, and the many questions it raises. (est. start time: 10.15pm; FREE and open to the public)***
Show TimesOctober 12 at 7 p.m. (Opening Night)
October 13 at 7 p.m.
October 14 at 2 p.m. (Meliora matinee)
October 14 at 7 p.m. (Join us for a post-show Panel Discussion!)
October 15 at 2 p.m. (Matinee)
October 18 at 7 p.m. (English Night; post-show reception)
October 19 at 7 p.m.
October 20 at 7 p.m.
October 21 at 7 p.m. (Closing Night)