Operation Epsilon – Reviews

"Smart and incisive"

"Egos and ethics clash in this compelling UK premiere of Alan Brody’s cerebral character study"

"Playwright Alan Brody’s smart, incisive play is based on real, secretly recorded transcripts of the scientists’ conversations, which lends a crisp realism to the dialogue. It is an unhurried, elegantly written piece, meticulously charting the subtle interplay of the characters’ guilt, ambition and obsessive scientific curiosity. Andy Sandberg – who also directed the original US production in 2013 – gives the play a dynamic staging."

"The large ensemble captures the clashing personalities of these pioneering but deeply flawed men with some impressively nuanced performances. Nathaniel Parker is compellingly conflicted as Hahn"

"Simon Bubb is strong, too, as the British Army major Rittner, tasked with overseeing the scientist’s comfortable confinement, while secretly reporting on their every word."

"The play, which is based on the original transcripts, provides a fascinating insight into the other side of the nuclear arms race. And what quickly transpires is that the Allies weren’t really in the race they thought they were."

"The proliferation of characters makes it difficult to get a full handle on each one, and the scale of it feels bloated; like watching a West End production squeezed into a fringe space. But it’s an undoubtedly diverting couple of hours shining a light on a little-known aspect of the war effort"

"Alternative Oppenheimer"

"Revival of Alan Brody’s award-winning 2013 history play is solid but plodding"

"... Operation Epsilon, gets its British premiere at the Southwark Playhouse, and offers a solid, if pedestrian, account of how German nuclear scientists were influenced by political considerations during the Third Reich."

"Brody tells the story in a straightforward way, hampered a bit by the need for exposition, and with little in the way of fun to relieve the nervy claustrophobia of these prisoners of war."

"The solid cast – especially Gyuri Sarossy’s Heisenberg, Nathaniel Parker (Hahn), Simon Chandler (Von Laue), Jamie Bogyo (Von Weizsäcker) and Matthew Duckett (Bagge) – keep the clashing personalities on the boil"