"Breaking the Code" - by Hugh Whitemore - Directed by Susan Bilbey

A compassionate and often amusing play concerning the remarkable mind and tragic fate of Alan Turing, mathematician and computer pioneer who broke the code in two ways.  One was by cracking the German Enigma code at Bletchley Park during World War II for which he was decorated by Churchill and lauded by the state.  The second was by shattering the gentlemanly English code of sexual discretion and making little attempt to disguise his homosexuality.  For this he was arrested on a charge of gross indecency. Whitemore's play, shifting back and forth in time, constantly seeks to find a connection between the two events and tackles major questions such as the relationship between mathematics and personal morals whilst telling a very good story.

A promotional article appeared in the Gloucestershire Echo which can be downloaded here.

The Hatherley Players performed "Breaking the Code" in February 2004.  In the GDA Full Length Play Festival, the production won Best Play, Best Director for Susan Bilbey and Best Actor for Daniel Bowskill.

Nick Henderson's review in the Gloucestershire Echo was glowing:

Turing's Life is a Brilliant Enigma

"The rise and fall of one of Britain's most unlikely war heroes is depicted in this enthralling biographical drama.  Mathematician Alan Turing was instrumental in breaking the German Enigma code which swung the Second World War back in favour of the Allies.

He was also an awkward and irritable academic whose homosexuality was frowned upon by his peers.

This dichotomy is wonderfully explored in Hugh Whitemore's script, which is treated with admirable sensitivity in The Hatherley Player's production.

Special honours go to Daniel Bowskill who expertly captures the both the weakness and brilliance of Turing.

His performance is characterised by nervous tics, self-doubt and naivety contrasted with moments of incredible insight when Turing's scientific genius comes to the fore.

The scene from the early Fifties when he excitedly describes the birth of the first "computing machine" that can think for and reason for itself is particularly effective from a 21st century point of view.

One of the clever devices used in the play is that Turing's story is not told in chronological order.  Instead it jumps between his childhood, his work at Bletchley Park and his sad demise in the Fifties.

The pieces of the jigsaw slowly fit together and we see Turing's trajectory from a promising but stuttering student to a more confident wartime code-breaker.

His adventurous mind and homosexuality eventually lead to distrust from the government and Turing is finally forced into exile, with morbid consequences.

There are excellent supporting turns from Geoffrey Jackson as a stubborn police detective, Chris Hatherall as an eccentric professor [sic] and Gemma Mangan as a fellow intelligence worker whose love for Turing is doomed.

The austere set allows these individual performances to shine and Susan Bilbey's careful direction ensures the play touches nerves on many levels."

In addition, Simon Lewis sent us the following note:

Last night it was my very great pleasure to watch The Hatherley Players for the first time, and I left having enjoyed a first-class evening's entertainment. I am usually at the theatre either appearing in or observing musical presentations of various genres, but yesterday evening's absorbing piece of straight drama made a refreshing change, especially given the high standards in evidence on all fronts. Everyone gave a polished performance, and the almost tangible silence at times, to my mind, reflected the spell under which the discerning audience had fallen, hanging on every word and movement in this enthralling tale. Daniel Bowskill, in particular, was quite outstanding as the tormented protagonist Alan Turing; so convincing at times, especially his opening Speech Day monologue to Act II, it was easy to forget that he was working from a writer's script.

Simon also provided us with the following review:

"There can only have been a few individuals whom Winston Churchill personally acknowledged as the difference between victory and defeat in World War II, but visionary mathematician Alan Turing, who famously deciphered the supposedly impregnable Nazi Enigma code, belonged to that exclusive fraternity. His life and very definitely his times and their attitudes are vividly recreated by The Hatherley Players in this sensitive and frequently thought-provoking production which runs until Saturday.

Susan Bilbey's directorial debut is an absorbing and sympathetic kaleidoscope of the eccentric English scientist's brief but largely tormented existence. Daniel Bowskill gives a towering performance as the troubled and distinctly other-worldly boffin, capturing all the nervousness, naivety and scientific genius of the tragic Turing, and he is ably supported by a robust and capable cast. Geoffrey Jackson embodies the legal and moral climate of his day as the earthy Detective Sergeant Ross, while Mary Meldrum's genial portrayal of Turing's mother conveys a cosy domesticity that stands in stark contrast to the dangerous twilight world of her son's indiscreet homosexuality, into which Gemma Mangan as pragmatic student Pat Green shines a brief but unfulfilled light. Doug Gale adds weight as the contemplative but ultimately embittered professor whose sober academic outlook throws the headstrong ambitions and idealism in Turing's isolated mind into even sharper relief.

The production design is splendid in its split-set simplicity, while the often lugubrious moods reflecting Turing's inner struggles, in an age before the actions of gays were decriminalised, are captured to perfection in Martin Oakes' subdued but supremely effective lighting, from the shadowy beginning all the way to the bleak and claustrophobic ending.

A splendid evening's entertainment, "Breaking The Code" is nonetheless a powerful and sometimes unsettling presentation, the story of a brilliant mind which is certain to leave a profound impression."