Royal & Derngate Theatre, Northampton – until 27th September 2025
Review by Amanda Allen
5*****
Mastermind. Code breaker. Maverick, All accurate descriptions of a man most of us have now heard of. Alan Turing was arguably one of the most important and inquisitive minds of the twentieth century. He is famed for cracking the Enigma code at Bletchley Park, effectively securing victory for the Allied forces in WWII. But this is not a play about his achievements but a story about the man himself, his character, his sexuality and largely his social naivety. This is the first major new production of the play since it was first produced in 1986 and with the addition of a final scene brings us right up to date with our new understanding of the flawed genius that we now see on our bank notes.
From triumph to tragedy, through the dialogue of his personal life and relationships we get to know a human being who loved, lost and never stopped asking questions in a quest for truth and understanding in this new production of Hugh Whitemore’s Breaking The Code.
From the start of the production the staging, lighting, sounds and costume all played a large part in setting the scene. With a single stage set intriguingly turned from Police station to office, to front room, to bedroom, with just a curtain moved or some furniture changed we were transported through the life of Alan Turing from school days to the end of his life and the scientific legacy he left behind. The story stared relatively slowly in the first half with the pace picking up as it unfolded and we became more familiar with the characters and the skipping in time from his schooldays to his work and his life after his work ended.
Mark Edel-Hunt played Turing with excellent characterisation, using his stutter, and his mannerisms to depict a man slightly uncomfortable with himself whilst being supremely confident in his intellect and ability to solve mathematical problems. His social naivety a sharp contrast to his self confidence in his work. We got to know the human side to this complex and troubled man through the excellent telling of his very personal story. The invention of the break-in to cover his embarrassment of being duped out of money and possessions by a male lover being the catalyst for the story of his personal life to be laid bare for us all to witness.
This play tells us more about the changing culture of our country over the last century than anything else. Where homosexuality has gone from being illegal to being completely accepted. It also demonstrates how far we have come scientifically and technologically with the development of computers and now AI, the science was all predicted by the brilliant mind of Alan Turing 80 years ago, but I doubt even he could have predicted the change in attitude to same sex relationships. The unrequited love of Pat Green (played by Carla Harrison-Hodge) was beautifully portrayed, as was Alan’s inability to see it demonstrating once again the social naivety that appeared to accompany him throughout his life.
Special mention must be made of Niall Costigan (who played Mick Ross) he depicted the Police officer with excellent timing, his use of his spectacles as a prop was noticeably ingenious, his comic timing was spot on and his ability to leave an awkward silence even made the audience like him! There were more light-hearted moments than expected in a play of such a serious nature. Especially from Peter Hamilton Dyer who played Dillwyn Knox, I particularly liked the blame being put on dentists for us all living to long, “if our teeth fell out as they would without dentists, we would all starve to death and therefor die younger” I particularly liked the fact that Alan didn’t realise he was also homosexual, again Alans social naivety prevented him from ever questioning him, and it had to be pointed out by another after his death.
The part of Alans Mother (played by Susie Trayling) as a simple woman who eventually tried but failed to understand her son’s preference for male company, always hoping for a woman to come along and save him and never realising that could never happen, she continued to love and support him as a mother would, whilst admitting to not understanding him. Her quiet reaction and acceptance of his death were beautifully portrayed, whilst her questioning of his intent to commit suicide, is a question that still lingers today.
The story was brilliantly acted by all the members of this small cast, taking us right into the world inhabited by Alan and his contemporaries in the 1940’s and early 1950’s. I loved the way the play ended, bringing it right up to date with a speech, an epilogue, delivered at his old school finally admitting the genius of this remarkable man. Although not an easy watch at times this is a story that needs telling and you need to see it