Oppenheimer

Tom Morton-Smith

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781783191987
• eBook ISBN: 9781783196975
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: American Drama

1939: fascism spreads across Europe, Franco marches on Barcelona and two German chemists discover the processes of atomic fission. In Berkeley, California, theoretical physicists recognise the horrendous potential of this new science: a weapon that draws its power from the very building blocks of the universe. Struggling to cast off his radical past and thrust into a position of power and authority, the charismatic J Robert Oppenheimer races to win the 'battle of the laboratories' and create a weapon so devastating that it would bring about an end not just to the Second World War but to all war. Tom Morton-Smith's new play takes us into the heart of the Manhattan Project, revealing the personal cost of making history.

Act One

1 – LECTURE SERIES: INTRODUCTION

A lecture theatre.

J Robert Oppenheimer (OPPIE) addresses a gathering of students. He reads from a slim, red book: Atomic Theory and the Description of Nature – Niels Bohr, 1934.

OPPIE: ‘The task of science is both to extend the range of our experience and to reduce it to order.’ So says Niels Bohr. It is only by experience that we can discern the laws that govern our universe. So as we learn … as we grow … we must be prepared to alter our methods for ordering our experience … because we come to surpass those techniques … those patterns … that once instructed us. Life is nothing if not a constant re-evaluation of what we believe to be correct, and a constant reassessment of the ways we gauge that correctness. What was true yesterday can be less true today, because we have learnt … and will learn … better. My name is J Robert Oppenheimer. You will come to know me as Oppie. I expect you to be attentive. I expect you to be present. And if some aspect of the lecture doesn’t make sense, then perhaps we are getting somewhere. There is no negotiation … no debate … with the complexity of the universe. If the work eludes you … if you simply lack the ability … then take your leave. I can make it clearer, but I cannot make it simpler. Let us begin.

2 – A FUNDRAISER FOR THE RELIEF EFFORT IN SPAIN

The Oppenheimer residence – Berkeley, California.

A party is in full swing. Music plays. The room bustles with people – people who are drinking, dancing, laughing and generally having an excellent time.

People present include: OPPIE, FRANK Oppenheimer, Giovanni Rossi LOMANITZ, Bob SERBER, JACKIE Oppenheimer, JEAN Tatlock, Joe WEINBERG, Robert WILSON, HAAKON Chevalier and CHARLOTTE Serber.

FRANK: Roosevelt!

LOMANITZ: Ha! Roosevelt!

FRANK: Franklin Delano Roosevelt!

SERBER: My god, Frank, you’ve got to give it a rest.

FRANK: Roosevelt’s greatest achievement has been to get people thinking … about employment … about economics … once the working man actually considers employment, economics, race-relations … that’s the start … that’s the route to socialism … communism.

SERBER: Frank … you’re kicking at an open door!

LOMANITZ: A specter is haunting Frank Oppenheimer.

FRANK: What the New Deal has done … the legacy of the New Deal … it has opened people’s eyes … the Great Depression … the Wall Street Crash … that way no longer works. Robert … brother of mine … big brother … big Robert … back me up …

OPPIE: If booze is present in your glass then your argument cannot maintain its structure. It will inevitably collapse.

FRANK: My glass is empty.

JACKIE: Frank, will you lay off the sermons?

FRANK: Hey baby … hey sweet-cheeks … how’s about I spin you round the floor?

LOMANITZ: Please, Jackie … take him dancing.

SERBER: Burn off some of that liquor.

JACKIE: Show me your moves, mister.

OPPIE: Frank’s not wrong … the people’s eyes are open.

LOMANITZ: To be fair to the guy … if you’re going to air your leftist politics … where better than a Communist Party fundraiser?

SERBER: I thought we were raising money for the relief effort in Spain?

OPPIE: It’s getting dispersed … distributed … through the Party.

LOMANITZ: What difference does it make? Sign me up to the union. For … with … through … I’m there.

JEAN: (Standing on a table, banging on a collection bucket.) Workers of the world – unite!

The music and dancing stops and everybody turns their attention to JEAN.

JEAN: For too long the White House has ignored the rise of fascism in Europe. Our government sits impotently by while Franco marches on Barcelona. Civilians fleeing the violence are interned in camps across the French border. I ask you – do you believe, even if there are thousands of miles between you, that your brother is any less your brother? We are not asking for money to fight a war … we are asking for money to feed children … to pay for medicines … to return some dignity to those who fascism has stripped bare. Compare their sacrifice with the dollar bill in your wallet and please give generously. Thank you.

Cheering and applause. Some voices in the crowd start singing ‘L’Internationale’. More and more people join in until eventually everyone is singing.

ALL: C’est la lutte finale

Groupons-nous, et demain

L’Internationale

Sera le genre humain

3 – THE DEPARTMENT OF THEORETICAL PHYSICS

The theoretical physics department – University of California, Berkeley.

LOMANITZ: Joe … Joe … how are you finding it?

WEINBERG: Rossi, hey. Bob.

SERBER: How are you settling in?

WEINBERG: The work here is … well, it’s a great deal more intense to what I’m used to.

SERBER: Where were you studying before?

WEINBERG: Wisconsin.

LOMANITZ: That would … yeah … Berkeley’s a little more … than Wisconsin … a little more …

SERBER: European. In terms of thinking.

WEINBERG: It used to come so ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Characters
• Act One
• Act Two