Basking in the glow of dim scoop lights in the Weitzenhoffer Theatre, actors begin warming up in what appears to be a typical rehearsal for a typical show. They make odd sounds in their throats, pace the stage maddeningly and practice pronunciations. It’s all very typical for a rehearsal space.

But “Copenhagen” is no typical show.

Written by British playwright Michael Frayn, “Copenhagen” is being presented by University Theatre and, surprisingly enough, by the Homer Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy and the College of Arts and Sciences.

The three lead roles in the drama about the fateful meeting of Niles Bohr and Werner Heisenberg in Copenhagen, Denmark during World War II are performed by seasoned guest artists rather than OU students. This special presentation wasn’t planned on a whim; the journey of bringing “Copenhagen” to Oklahoma originated long ago as plans for the Department of Physics’ centennial celebration emerged.

“[I was] approached about a year ago and [was] asked if I’d like to do a production of “Copenhagen”... for the physics department’s centennial,” director Susan Shaughnessy said. “They’re having lots of festivities and people visiting and guest speakers and things like that, so we got the funds together to get a guest artist, Paul Austin, and we were able to pull it off.”

Austin, an actor based in New York, knew just the performer to play one of the leads.

“They asked me to recommend someone to play Bohr, so I recommended myself,” Austin said, chuckling. The play also stars Ginger Gilmartin Smith, an OU alumna, and Tom Huston Orr, the director of the School of Drama.

While Shaughnessy and Austin are no strangers to the stage, they aren’t experts on the complex physics theories that the play presents as it tries to justify Heisenberg’s trip to Denmark to see Bohr, which coincided with the beginnings of atomic bomb development.

“Well, I know lots, because I took a class in college called ‘Physics for Poets,’” Shaughnessy said, laughing.

The many scientifically advanced theories in the play created a “steep learning curve” for both the production team and the actors, but the play remains understandable, she said.

“We wanted to make this an event accessible to the general public,” said Kim Milton, chair of the centennial celebration committee. “We wanted something that was connected to physics, and this play describes this meeting between Bohr and Heisenberg in 1941 in occupied Denmark. No one knows what they talked about and both left very upset with each other, and there are various opinions about what was said.”

While the critical success of the play in its past incarnations was an important factor in selecting the work, Milton stated that the connection to physics that the play has made it an obvious selection for the centennial.

“[The show] is sort of a play on the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle,” Milton described. “In quantum physics, you can’t know exactly where a particle is. And in the play, you can’t quite pin down what actually happened.”

A symposium will also be featured after the Sunday matinee show featuring presentations from six different departments, including religious studies, philosophy, international programs and — of course — physics.

While the motive behind the production of “Copenhagen” differs greatly from every other show being presented this season, both Shaughnessy and Milton are optimistic about the play’s reception when it opens tonight.

“There are so many different levels; there are scientific questions, but there are moral and ethical questions, and there are also familial issues and philosophical levels,” Shaughnessy said. “It’s just a many-layered play, and we’re very excited.”