It is Summer 1945: Hitler is dead, but war in the Pacific rages on. The Allies have detained six of Germany’s most gifted nuclear scientists – including three Nobel Prize winners – at Farm Hall, a stately home just outside Cambridge. 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. Unbeknownst to the scientists, during their stay, every inch of Farm Hall was bugged and their every reaction recorded. This play is inspired by the true events that took place at Farm Hall between July 1945 and January 1946.

The stellar cast includes David Yelland (The Crown, Chariots of Fire, Poirot), who plays the role of Max…