Operation Epsilon – Southwark Playhouse
Operation Epsilon is concerned with a niche piece of 1945 history that may potentially find a wider audience due to the popularity of recent Oppenheimer movie. Thanks to Cillian Murphy’s turn in Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic, suddenly everyone has an opinion on the ethics of scientific research and the uses of nuclear fission.
The play is set after the fall of Nazi Germany, as the Allies carved up the Reich and sought justice and peace for the world at large. Except, it’s never that simple. At best, war creates moral ambiguities, and by its very nature, revels in murder and destruction. Ethics become very bendy once bombs start falling. In the post-war clean up, British and American intelligence services were keen to get the lowdown on the extent of Germany’s nuclear research....