Writer: Hugh Whitemore
Director: Jesse Jones
This is a remarkable piece of theatre.
If, though, you’re expecting to see a play about how the Enigma code was cracked, be that dry or fascinating depending on your interest, think again. Instead prepare for an insight into the man that was Alan Turing, his hopes and fears, and his never-ending quest for knowledge. Based on the book Alan Turing: the Enigma by Andrew Hodges, it’s a play about how he broke the code of behaviour that was expected at the time as much it is about breaking the code that arguably played a decisive part of winning the war.
It’s a brief look – how can it be otherwise when you’re trying to condense a life into two short hours – but during the time available it manages to highlight the essence of the man. Stereotypically, we may have thought he was nothing more than a dry, dusty academic, socially inept and known as much for his homosexuality as his brilliance. Yet letters and accounts from his friends reveal much more, and it’s this aspect that Breaking the Code unpicks – his wit and dry humour, his charm, and the way he attracted both men and women. He’s a man who loved and lost, but who never tried to be anything other than who he was, despite the high price that came with that.
Mark Edel-Hunt gives us an outstanding performance as Alan Turing. There’s a nervous stammer in any situation when he feels uneasy, even sometimes with his family, picking and biting at his fingers as he stumbles with his words, but which turns into an excited eloquence when he comes onto the topics of mathematical problems and practical engineering to solve them. The play moves backwards and forwards in time, and so we get to see different personalities. He has a deep friendship – love even – with his school friend Christopher Morcom (Joseph Edwards) and a palpable sense of loss at Morcom’s early death. This is in sharp contrast to the way his eyes light up and his almost euphoric excitement when he learns about the scale of the problem he’s been asked to help solve, and his desperation to cling onto relationships – however brief – once the war was over. We learn about the man through his relationships and Edel-Hunt demonstrates the different aspects of these with skill.
It’s far from a one-man play though, and Edel-Hunt is surrounded by a strong cast. Joseph Edwards gives us a well-judged though brief portrayal of young Christopher Morcom, returning to deliver the epilogue as a current-day sixth-former who no longer needs to hide his sexuality. Peter Hamilton Dyer creates a memorable character as Dillwyn Knox, with Carla Harrison-Hodge giving us a personable interpretation of Turing’s would-be lover Pat Green. We see two different sides to Susie Trayling as a despairing yet caring Sarah Turing, and Smith, representing the Security Services. Joe Usher gives us a thread through the production as Ron Miller and Nicos, Turing’s lovers with Niall Costigan as Mick Ross, a by-the-book police officer.
Jonathan Fensom and Johanna Town’s set, costume and lighting design is plain and represents the period and themes well – a dusty, grey room, given just a little brightness when Turing visits Greece, with brightness and colour when we reach modern times. It all serves to add to the atmosphere and enhances the piece well, along with Robin Colyer’s sound and music.
Since the play was first staged in 1986, things have changed – Turing’s prediction that we would develop AI has become reality, with all of the concerns about what that might lead to. Most relevantly, attitudes towards sexuality have changed, with Turing’s posthumous Royal pardon in 2013, which led to the subsequent introduction of Turing’s Law to retrospectively pardon other men who were convicted. To reflect this, a new epilogue has been written by Neil Bartlett that serves to bring the play right up to date. Turing’s work laid the foundations for the mobile phone you have in your pocket, the computer you have on your desk. Without that work, you wouldn’t be able to read this review now. Yet it serves too as a reminder that progress can be hard to win, and rights won can very easily be lost. Who decides what is acceptable, and what happens when people challenge those decisions?
As Turing says in the play, “It’s not breaking a code that matters, it’s where you go from there”.
Runs until 27 September 2025 and on tour
