The Physicists

The Physicists, comedy in two acts by Swiss writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt, performed and published in German as Die Physiker in 1962. The play, often considered Dürrenmatt’s best, addresses the ethical dilemma that arises when unscrupulous politicians gain access to scientific knowledge that has the potential to destroy the world.

Three physicists, pretending to be insane, voluntarily commit themselves to an asylum administered by a megalomaniacal psychiatrist, Dr. Mathilde von Zahnd. The ethical physicist Möbius (known as King Solomon) has incarcerated himself to prevent the world from obtaining and misusing his invention. The other two physicists (known in the sanitarium as Newton and Einstein) are really rival spies, one representing the East and the other the West, each hoping to obtain Möbius’s secret.

Möbius convinces the spies that humanity’s salvation depends on the three of them remaining secluded together. They discover that Dr. von Zahnd has stolen Möbius’s secrets and is now capable of controlling the world. Resigned, the three assume their madmen’s roles.