‘Breaking The Code’ as a title is a bit of a misnomer as it suggests that we’re going to see a play about how Mathematics Professor Alan Turing, along with his colleagues at Bletchley Park, solved the enormously complex riddle that was the Nazi’s ‘Enigma Code’ and consequently hastened the end of World War II.
And of course, Hugh Whitemore’s play, currently being staged at Oxford Playhouse, touches on this part of the story, but what we really get is a beautifully touching, but no-holds-barred insight into what this curious genius was actually like – what he thought and how he felt.
‘Not for nothing is the now pardoned Turing featured on the back of the £50 note’
It’s intriguing that a play with very little action or plot can be so fascinating, but Breaking The Code manages this feat through Whitmore’s wonderful dialogue, and gripping performances from the whole cast.
Mark Edel-Hunt as Turing offers a captivating waterfall of words and stutters as we witness first-hand his frustrations with his mother, his lovers, his boss and the law, as he tries to conceal his homosexuality from a very unforgiving society. A remarkable performance portraying Turing as the ultimate square peg in a round hole.
‘Mark Edel-Hunt as Turing offers a captivating waterfall of words and stutters. A remarkable performance portraying Turing as the ultimate square peg in a round hole’
But we are always on his side, hoping against hope that things will work out for him. By the end, we are left cheering not just his mathematical achievements, but by the fact that he passed through life remaining so utterly true to himself.
The other players in Turing’s life didn’t have it easy either. Detective Mick Ross (Niall Costigan) appears to sympathise with Turing’s plight as he lays down the law. Pat Green (Carla Harrison-Hodge) struggles in vain to have a heterosexual relationship with Alan, while Turing’s boss at Bletchley, Dillwyn Knox (Peter Hamilton Dyer) is more concerned about damage to the reputation of the organisation.
‘Little did they know it, but their lives would forever be intertwined with a man whose influence can still to this day be directly observed’
Little did they know it, but their lives would forever be intertwined with a man whose influence can still to this day be directly observed on our lap-tops, smartphones and today’s AI advances. Not for nothing is the now pardoned Turing featured on the back of the £50 note.
Part social history, part touching portrait, this production of Breaking The Code brilliantly examines the struggles and the achievements of this extraordinary man and should not be missed.
Edward Bliss
Breaking The Code runs at Oxford Playhouse until October 11. Book at https://www.oxfordplayhouse.com/events/breaking-the-code
