''Hapgood'' is a play by

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

, first produced in 1988. It is mainly about espionage, focusing on a British female spymaster (Hapgood) and her juggling of career and motherhood. The play also makes reference to

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...

, including Niels Bohr's "The answer is the question interrogated";

Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg () (5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist and one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics. He published his work in 1925 in a breakthrough paper. In the subsequent series ...

uncertainty principle In quantum mechanics, the uncertainty principle (also known as Heisenberg's uncertainty principle) is any of a variety of mathematical inequalities asserting a fundamental limit to the accuracy with which the values for certain pairs of physic ...

; and the topological problem of the Seven Bridges of Königsberg. It is regarded as one of Stoppard’s weakest works.

Productions

In the original production in 1988, directed by Peter Wood, Felicity Kendal played Hapgood, Nigel Hawthorne played her friend and superior Blair and Roger Rees was their agent, the Soviet scientist Kerner. The production was a critical failure, and it was revised significantly in 1994 for the first New York production. The play premiered in the US

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

at the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater on 11 November 1994 and closed on 26 March 1995. Directed by Jack O'Brien, the cast featured Josef Sommer (Blair), David Strathairn (Kerner) and

Stockard Channing Stockard Channing (born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard; February 13, 1944) is an American actress. She is known for playing Betty Rizzo in the film '' Grease'' (1978) and First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series ''The West Wing'' ( ...

(Hapgood). Jack O'Brien won the 1995 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Director.Canby, Vincent
"Sunday View. A Witty Thriller By Tom Stoppard Doubles the Fun"
''The New York Times'', 11 December 1994

References

1988 plays Plays by Tom Stoppard {{1980s-play-stub