Announcing the cast of Copenhagen by Michael Frayn, directed by Madonna Smith:

Niels Bohr: Matthew Brewbaker
Magrethe Bohr: Jessica Wilson
Werner Heisenberg: Gavin Conkling

Performances run May 12, 13, 19, 20 at Public Space 1.

Recently, we made the decision to remove Consider the Oyster from our current season. I’d like to take a moment to lay out our reasons for doing so. For those not familiar with the play, it centers on a man who—through a strange fluke—begins to take on some of the physical characteristics of a woman. What we thought was a comedic farce about traditional gender roles was, in fact, a play that could be damaging to people in our community who are examining and defining their gender identities.

In the end, this lack of depth is why we’re choosing not to do this play. The director had been in touch with local members of the trans community because while the play doesn’t deal explicitly with a transgender character, it does touch on issues of gender identity and society. It was during this discussion that these community members indicated that the play was making a number of mistakes with the way that it discussed these ideas and that propagating them could prove harmful to the cause of transgender acceptance.

After a helpful discussion with members of this community, we chose to remove the show from our season. Given the challenging social and political climate for trans people at this time, we felt it would be irresponsible to go forward with the production. Instead, we will be working with the trans community in the area to create an evening of original short works about their lives and stories, and we’ve made a goal to produce a play by a transgender playwright in an upcoming season.

To round out our current season, we will be producing Michael Frayn’s Tony-winning play, Copenhagen, which is a compelling examination of both the relationship between science and politics and the very nature of truth itself.