Breaking The Code at Royal & Derngate Northampton Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Janine Rumble

Breaking the Code play by Hugh Whitmore, is based on the book: Alan Turing, The Enigma by Andrew Hodges, with a new epilogue by Neil Bartlett, which brings up to date Alan’s story.

Alan’s life story is told by the brilliant Mark Edel-Hunt, whose portrayal of the code breaker and brilliant mathematician was just spellbinding to watch. The play takes the viewer from his early triumphs at Bletchley to his sad demise. It chronicles his early life, his every triumph and his eventual downfall, with a small epilogue at the end, which brings Turing’s story full circle.

Through Mark Edel-Hunt’s portrayal of the brilliant Alan Turing, we get to see a glimpse into this complex, but brilliant man, the stuttering genius, whose love for other men, brought about his downfall.

The story begins when Turing informs the police about a burglary at his house, which turns to a confession of being homosexual, which leads to his death. This is interspersed with each part of his life being told, his troubled life with his mother, his engagement to a lady, his life with his male lovers, his work at Bletchley, his work on developing computers, his ever ending need to ask questions and to find answers etc. It is ever so clever the way this is done, the story flows seamlessly and I was on the edge of my seat, mesmerised by the telling of his life. I really felt like the man was there on stage, the emotion, the pain, the warmth, the love, the heartache, the conflict was all so passionately portrayed by Edel-Hunt. It was just brilliant. The seven strong cast worked seamlessly together, and those with more than one role, portrayed them so well. They really added to the atmosphere of what was being portrayed.

It was really good to see into the life of the man, the enigma, other than what you may have already known about Turing. Here, through this play, you get to see the actual human, the actual person and not just what history wants us to know about him.

His demise is portrayed quite quickly and in a poignant way. The play focuses more on the man and his achievements and not his demise, which is how it should be. The epilogue at the end, speaks of Turing’s recent Royal Pardon, the development of Turing’s Law and speaks of Turing’s lasting legacy.

The staging is very simple and very cleverly used. It is a set of windows and doors around the play, that are adapted through the use of clever props to portray the police station, the pub, Turing’s house etc. Each new scene is believable and does not feel out of place. The costumes are of the time, which also adds to the magic of the scenes.

I give this play 5/5 stars based on Mark Edel-Hunt’s performance of Alan Turing alone. Go see it. The production tours until 1 November after it’s run in Northampton – a full tour listing can be found on this website:

Rating: 5/5

This is a brand new Made in Northampton production, directed by Jesse Jones, opened at the Royal & Derngate, Northampton and runs there until Saturday 27th September, before touring to Barnstaple, Oxford, Peterborough, Liverpool and Manchester.

Tickets can be bought on the Royal & Derngate website: royalandderngate.co.uk and tickets are priced between £15-£45.

Breaking the Code is a co-production between Royal & Derngate, Northampton, Landmark Theatres and Oxford Playhouse, in association with Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse and HOME.