RSC tells the tale of a race to ‘end all wars’

Telling the tale of world famous J Robert Oppenheimer, the stage show by Tom Morton-Smith will take audiences to the heart of America in the 1930s and 1940s. Set amid the spread of fascism in Europe, the play explores how German chemists discovered the processes of atomic fission and the powers it could hold.

Meanwhile, in California, physicists recognised the horrendous potential the find could have and Oppenheimer found himself spearheading the largest scientific undertaking in human history.

As well as looking to the man and his family, the play explores the tension between scientific advances and the justification of their use during wartime, revealing the personal cost of achieving greatness.

Struggling to cast off his radical past and thrust into a position of power and authority, Oppenheimer races to win the ‘battle of the laboratories’.

And in doing so, create a weapon so devastating that, with the detonation of a single device, it would bring about an end to all war.

Directed by Angus Jackson, Oppenheimer will run at the Swan Theatre until March 7. For tickets phone 0844 800 1110 or go to www.rsc.org.uk