Close-up: Doctor Atomic

In July 2023, Werkspoor Kathedraal in Utrecht was transformed into a theatre in which the Utrechtsch Studenten Concert performed the opera ‘Doctor Atomic’.

This opera is about the development of the atomic bomb and takes the audience into the suspense of the last hours before the first atomic test. A festival was organised around the opera where visitors found themselves in the laboratory of the atomic test. They encountered questions of creation and destruction that physicist Robert Oppenheimer, who led the project, also faced.

Several researchers from Utrecht University and UMC Utrecht contributed to the festival by giving a lecture or interview, or writing background information for the programme booklet. This cooperation allowed visitors to better contextualise the opera. The seven performances attracted around 5,600 visitors.

Onderzoeker Karin Jongsma vertelt iets over haar onderzoek aan de presentator.
Dr Karin Jongsma (associate professor of Bioethics at the Julius Centre of UMC Utrecht) talks at the festival about her research on the ethics of new technologies | Photo: Veerle Bastiaansen
Een scène uit de opera Doctor Atomic
Photo: Marco Borggreve

Text: Eline Dondorp

Close-up

This article is also published in the fourth edition of the magazine Close-up, full of inspiring columns, background stories and experiences of researchers and support staff.

Go to Close-up #4