Katherine Moar’s debut play, Farm Hall, is set in the country house where some of Germany’s finest scientific minds were held captive during the final days of World War Two.
Inspired by true events, Farm Hall dramatises the thrilling story of Operation Epsilon: one of the most fascinating and unexplored episodes of World War Two. It is Summer 1945: Hitler is dead, but war in the Pacific rages on. The British government has detained six of Germany’s most gifted nuclear scientists – including three Nobel Prize winners – at Farm Hall, a stately home in Cambridgeshire. They entertain themselves with some redacted newspapers, a broken piano and a copy of Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit. But their tranquil summer is shattered by the news that the Americans have succeeded where the Germans failed. The United States has not only built an atom bomb, it has used one against Japan. Every reaction to the unfolding events was captured thanks to the British clandestine surveillance of their “guests”. Unbeknownst to the scientists, every inch of Farm Hall was bugged during their stay.
Katherine Moar says, “I first heard about Farm Hall in Professor Kathryn Olesko’s brilliant class on nuclear scientists and dissent at Georgetown University. I read the transcripts from the British recordings all in one evening – I was hooked. These extremely intelligent, bored, funny, morally-compromised men were plucked out of history at a pivotal moment and locked away for seven months. Their conversations ranged from the totally inane to the staggeringly significant. The first thing that struck me was that this could make a great play.”
The superb ensemble cast bringing this extraordinary true story to life includes William Chubb, who plays the role of Von Laue, Alan Cox as Heisenberg, Daniel Boyd as von Weizsäcker, Forbes Massonas Hahn, Julius D’Silva, as Diebner and George Jones) as Bagge.
Farm Hall is written by Katherine Moar and directed by Stephen Unwin. Set and costume design is by Ceci Calf with lighting design by Ben Ormerod and sound design by John Leonard. The play is produced by Theatre Royal Bath Productions and London’s Jermyn Street Theatre, where Farm Hall received its world premiere from 9th March to 8th April 2023.
Richmond Theatre, Little Green, TW9 1QJ from Mon 23 – Sat 28 Oct 2023
Tickets from £13*
Click here to purchase tickets
