Hapgood
As physicist Niels Bohr and a cadre of other adventurous quantum physicists postulated in the early part of the 20th century, uncertainty is the foundation of the subatomic world. According to the best known branch of quantum theory, the Copenhagen Interpretation, subatomic entities will behave like particles or waves depending on how they’re measured. In this school of thought, the act of observation is what gives subatomic entities their place in the world; electrons have no position or momentum except when those properties are being observed. When we look, an electron falls into place. When we look away, its probability waves begin to spread across space–meaning that the electron could suddenly appear at the other end of the galaxy without traversing the distance in between, in a mind-warping process called quantum tunneling.
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Tom Stoppard in his 1988 play Hapgood attempts to turn the unnerving indeterminacy of quantum mechanics into the existential backdrop of a cold-war spy drama. The idea may sound ludicrous, but Stoppard is just the sort of brainy playwright who might pull it off. In fact he created Arcadia, one of his greatest plays, through a similar dramatic experiment, using the central tenets of chaos theory to probe the mysteries of love.
In the second act the playwright remembers to give his lead characters some personal stakes, so in addition to the invention of a sting to catch Ridley, he lets us in on Hapgood’s unrequited love for Kerner and hatches an elaborate plot in which Hapgood’s ten-year-old son may or may not have been kidnapped. Almost nothing in the first act–including a CIA agent who all but vanishes in act two–is necessary for these story lines. The only exception is the possibility of Ridley’s guilt, which might have been established in about seven minutes. In essence the play does its own quantum tunneling during intermission, leaping from one set of plot lines to another without traveling the distance between.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Michael Brosilow.
