Nathaniel Parker, Simon Chandler and Gyuri Sarossy Lead Cast for UK Première of OPERATION EPSILON
Operation Epsilon tells the true story of Germany's ten foremost nuclear scientists who were held captive in England by the British and American forces in WWII.
By: A.A. Cristi Aug. 21, 2023
Full casting is announced today for Alan Brody's award-winning play Operation Epsilon at Southwark Playhouse Elephant, which opens on 20 September, with previews from 15 September and runs until 21 October 2023.
Andy Sandberg directs an ensemble cast of eleven that includes Nicholas Armfield (Horst Korsching), Jamie Bogyo (Carl Friederich von Weizsäcker), Simon Bubb (Major T.H. Rittner), Simon Chandler (Max von Laue), Matthew Duckett (Erich Bagge), Jake Mann (Karl Wirtz), Olivier Award winner Nathaniel Parker (Otto Hahn), Peter Prentice (Paul Harteck), Leighton Pugh (Walter Gerlach), Simon Rhodes (Kurt Diebner), and Gyuri Sarossy (Werner Heisenberg). Operation Epsilon is produced by Ellen Berman.
Inspired by actual transcripts that were secretly recorded and then held classified for many decades, Operation Epsilon tells the true story of Germany's ten foremost nuclear scientists who were rounded up and held captive in England by the British and American forces toward the end of World War II, as the Manhattan Project forged ahead in America.
This thought-provoking play makes its UK première at Southwark Playhouse Elephant, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the critically acclaimed US production. Operation Epsilon shines a light on the ethical complexity of scientific discovery…and its potential for catastrophic consequences.
Ellen Berman & Operation Epsilon Limited present
The UK première of
OPERATION EPSILON
BY Alan Brody
DIRECTED BY Andy Sandberg
Cast: Nicholas Armfield, Jamie Bogyo, Simon Bubb, Simon Chandler, Matthew Duckett, Jake Mann, Nathaniel Parker, Peter Prentice, Leighton Pugh, Simon Rhodes, Gyuri Sarossy
Set Designer: Janie Howland; Costume Designer: Beth Colley; Lighting Designer: Clancy Flynn; Sound Designer: Chris Drohan; Original Music: Dewey Dellay; Casting Director: Lucy Casson CDG
15 September – 21 October 2023
Press night: 20 September at 7.45pm
It's the close of World War II – the dawn of the atomic age. The Allies have captured Germany's ten foremost nuclear scientists and sequestered them deep in the English countryside to ascertain the answer to a life-or-death question: how close are the Nazis to making an atomic bomb? The world stands on the precipice of creation and destruction, bound by the gravity of their decisions which hold the power to change the course of history.
Based on actual transcripts of secretly recorded conversations and telling the other side of the Oppenheimer story – Alan Brody's gripping play delves into the darkest corners of human ingenuity, exploring the intimate conflict within the hearts and minds of luminaries with unimaginable power. A once-classified true story buried in the archives amidst an epic war, Operation Epsilon is a poignant, thrilling exploration of the ties that bind us to our actions, our decisions, and one another.
Nicholas Armfield plays Dr. Horst Korsching. His theatre credits include The Misandrist (Arcola Theatre), Richard III (Royal Shakespeare Company), Imperium Parts I and II RSC/West End), Pilgrims (Orange Tree Theatre), A Rabbit Climbed a Ladder to the Moon (The Place), and Artist Descending a Staircase (King's Head Theatre). His television work includes Doctors; and for film, Phaedra.
Jamie Bogyo plays Professor Carl Friederich Von Weizsäcker. He most recently starred as Alex in Aspects of Love (Lyric Theatre) and originated the role of Christian in the West End production of Moulin Rouge (Piccadilly Theatre). Additional theatre credits include The Travels (New York Musical Theatre Festival), and Dust Can't Kill Me (New York Fringe Festival).
Simon Bubb plays Major T.H. Rittner. His theatre credits include War Horse (National Theatre; West End), Saint Joan, The Habit of Art and People (National Theatre), Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, King John (Royal Shakespeare Company), The Philanthropist (Donmar Warehouse), Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare's Globe), Frost/Nixon (Sheffield Crucible), Hay Fever (Royal Exchange Theatre), and Far From The Madding Crowd (The Watermill Theatre). His television work includes W1A, Ghosts, Unforgotten, Silent Witness, Human, Grantchester, The Madame Blanc Mysteries, Father Brown, Life, Four Lives, The Rook, Flack, and Obsession; and for film, Possum, Nosepicker and Waiting for Dawn.
Simon Chandler plays Professor Max Von Laue. His theatre credits include Ravens: Spassky vs. Fischer and Porfiry Semyonovich Glagolyev (Hampstead Theatre), Cock, The Stepmother and For Service Rendered (Chichester Festival Theatre), Red Velvet (Tricycle Theatre/Garrick Theatre/St Ann's Warehouse, New York), The Letter of Last Resort (Traverse), Cause Célèbre (The Old Vic), Women, Power and Politics Season (Tricycle Theatre), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Democracy (West End), King Lear (RSC), The Power of the Dog, The Double Dealer (Orange Tree Theatre), Invisible Friends (National Theatre), Man of the Moment (Shakespeare's Globe), George and Margaret (Cambridge Theatre), Hamlet (Royal Court Theatre),and Romeo and Juliet, Charley's Aunt, /Importance of Being (Young Vic). His television credits include House of the Dragon, The Diplomat, The Gold, Silent Witness, Doc Martin, Revisited, Call the Midwife, Confessional, Foyle's War, Gentleman's Relish, Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Judge John Deed, Just William, Land Girls, Middlemarch, Mr Selfridge, My Family, Silent Witness, Silk, Teachers, The Bletchley Circle, The Crown, The Singing Detective, The Thick of It, The Voysey Inheritance, The Wimbledon Poisoner, Vera, and Wallander; and for film, Victor/Victoria, A Bridge Too Far, The Bounty, Incognito, The Man Who Knew Too Little, Milk, Vera Drake, Perfume, Penelope, War Hero, Fast Girls, Mr Turner, The Corrupted, 55 Steps, The Theory of Everything, The Iron Lady and The King's Speech.
Matthew Duckett plays Dr. Erich Bagge. He most recently co-starred as Crutchie in the UK première production of Disney's Newsies. His theatre credits include Richard III and All´s Well That Ends Well (Royal Shakespeare Company), Tartuffe (National Theatre), and My Left/Right Foot - The Musical (National Theatre Scotland). His television work includes Lady Chatterley's Lover and Confession.
Jake Mann plays Dr. Karl Wirtz. His theatre work includes Cymbeline, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard II (RSC), King Lear (Duke of York's Theatre/Chichester Festival Theatre), Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare's Globe), and Seagull Cinema (Theatre503). His television credits include Gold, Smothered, Britannia, Ripper Street, Young Doctor's Notebook and Quick Cuts; and for film, American Assassin, Hunter Killer, and Benjamin Britten: Peace & Conflict.
Nathaniel Parker plays Professor Otto Hahn. Parker is best known for playing the detective Thomas Lynley in the television series The Inspector Lynley Mysteries. His theatre credits include The Mirror and the Light (Gielgud Theatre); An Ideal Husband (Vaudeville Theatre); This House (Chichester/West End); The Audience (Gielgud Theatre); Speed the Plow (West End), and Wolf Hall (RSC - Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Tony Award nomination). Television credits include Bleak House, Hotel Babylon, Land Girls, Merlin, Grantchester, and History of a Pleasure Seeker; and for film, The Last Duel, Swimming with Men, Swords and Sceptres, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Perfect Host, and St. Trinian's.
Peter Prentice plays Professor Paul Harteck. His theatre credits include Bodies (Southwark Playhouse), The Best Man (West End), My Fair Lady (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane), Afterlife, Les Parents Terribles, Sweeney Todd (National Theatre), The Magic Flute (Donmar Warehouse), The Sound of Music, Enjoy (West Yorkshire Playhouse), and Aspects of Love (Wolsey Theatre). His television work includes The Capture, Silent Witness, Close to the Enemy, and Berkeley Square; and for film, How to Get Ahead, Outside, Jake the Exorcist and The Magic Key.
Leighton Pugh plays Professor Walter Gerlach. His theatre work includes The Lehman Trilogy (UK tour), Rocket to the Moon, A Woman Killed with Kindness (National Theatre), The Birthday Party (Harold Pinter Theatre), and There (Royal Court Theatre). His television credits include 50 Ways to Kill Your Lover, Grandpa in My Pocket and Fingersmith.
Simon Rhodes plays Dr. Kurt Diebner. His theatre credits include Posh (UK Tour), No Man's Land (Wyndham's Theatre and UK Tour), Cornelius (Finborough Theatre/ 59E59 Theater, New York), Dear Brutus (Southwark Playhouse), Just To Get Married and Laburnum Grove (Finborough Theatre), Billy Chickens is a Psychopath Superstar (Theatre503 at the Latitude Festival), Accomplice (Menier Chocolate Factory), Blue On Blue and Trolls (Theatre503), Peace, The Bacchae, The Persians (various amphitheatres, Cyprus), The Plebeians Rehearse The Uprising (Arcola Theatre), and Julius Caesar (Barbican). His film credits include The World We Knew, The Sky in Bloom and Screwed.
Gyuri Sarossy plays Professor Werner Heisenberg. His theatre credits include Measure for Measure (Shakespeare's Globe), Ravens: Spassky vs. Fischer (Hampstead Theatre), Sadness and Joy in the Life of Giraffes, The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd (Orange Tree Theatre), Wendy and Peter (Lyceum Edinburgh), Chinglish (Park Theatre), The Seven Acts of Mercy, The Rover, Two Noble Kinsmen and Romeo and Juliet (RSC), Creditors (Young Vic), The Absence of War, The Seagull (Headlong), Tonight at 8:30 (Nuffield/ETT), 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (Cheek by Jowl), Earthquakes in London, Luther (National Theatre), As You Like It (Royal Exchange Theatre), The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (Liverpool Everyman/Chichester Festival Theatre), The Hypochondriac (Almeida Theatre), Macbeth, Coriolanus (Tobacco Factory/Barbican), Rope (The Watermill Theatre), Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night (Donmar Warehouse), Man and Superman, Don Juan, Galileo's Daughter (Peter Hall Company), and The Promise (Tricycle Theatre). His television credits include FBI International, The Outlaws, Father Brown, Press, The Coroner, Foyle's War, Einstein and Eddington, Tchaikovsky, The Bill, Egypt, Casualty, Judge John Deed, Eastenders, Doctors, Blue Dove, Up Rising and Belfry Witches; and for film, Mercenaries, Another Life and Until Death.
Alan Brody's Operation Epsilon received its world première production at Central Square Theater (Cambridge, MA) with the Nora Theater Company in 2013 and received the distinguished IRNE Awards for Best New Play, Best Director (Andy Sandberg), Best Ensemble, and Best Scenic Design (Janie Howland). Named a Critics' Pick by The Boston Globe, Operation Epsilon also received a 2013 Elliot Norton Award nomination for Best New Play and won the Norton Award for Best Leading Actor. Brody's other works include The Housewives of Mannheim (a co-production between Off-Broadway's 59E59 Theatre in NYC and NJ Repertory Theatre), Five Scenes from Life, Greytop in Love, One-on-One, The Midvale High School Fiftieth Reunion, and Reckoning Time: A Song of Walt Whitman. His play Invention for Fathers and Sons was awarded the first annual Rosenthal Award at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park in 1989. He also received the 1990 Eisner Award from the Streisand Center for Jewish Culture in Los Angeles for Company of Angels, which had its world premiere at New Repertory Theater in 1993.
Andy Sandberg is a New York-based director, writer, and Tony Award-winning producer. He is also currently Artistic Director and CEO of the Hermitage Artist Retreat in Florida. He directed the UK première of Jeannette Bayardelle's Shida, which opened to rave reviews and earned 2019 Off West End Award nominations for Best Musical, Best Director, Best Lead Actress (also Off-Broadway at Ars Nova - four AUDELCO Nominations, including Best Director, Best Musical). Additional world premières as director include Straight (Off-Broadway - Critics' Pick in The New York Times, which he is now adapting into a feature film); Application Pending, a comedy about kindergarten admissions (also co-author; BroadwayWorld Award: Best Off-Broadway Play, Drama Desk nom: Outstanding Solo Show, Winner: Book Pipeline Prize); Operation Epsilon (Four IRNE Awards, including Best Play, Best Director); Craving for Travel (also co-author); and the Off-Broadway musicals The Last Smoker in America and Neurosis, among others. Select regional directing credits in the U.S. include How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, City of Angels, Into the Woods, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. He has written the feature-length screenplays for Five More Minutes and Haul Out the Holly. In his role as Artistic Director of the Hermitage, Sandberg has established the organization as one of the leading national arts incubators in the United States. Education: Yale University
OPERATION EPSILON
Southwark Playhouse, Elephant
1 Dante Place, London, SE11 4RX
15 September – 21 October 2023
Press night: 20 September at 7.45 PM
Performances
Mon – Sat: 7.45pm
Thu & Sat: 2.30pm
Ticket prices: previews £16, full price £32, concessions £25.50
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