‘It’s a profoundly moving and important story to tell. Now more than ever’
A production of acclaimed play Breaking the Code, about mathematician Alan Turing opens at Northampton’s Royal & Derngate tomorrow
By Sarah Ward
The Royal and Derngate’s artistic director Jesse Jones has long been an admirer of Breaking the Code, the play about the brilliant scientist Alan Turing he is about to stage tomorrow (September 11).
A visionary scientist and mathematician who cracked the German’s enigma code in WWII, Turing later took his own life aged just 41, after being persecuted by the state for his sexuality. Today his face appears on the £50 banknote and he received a posthumous royal pardon.
Jones says:
“I read the play about ten years ago and I thought it was just a phenomenally well written piece of theatre. It struck a lot with me for very specific personal reasons about how to stay true to your identity and above all other things it tells the story about Turing in a way that maybe isn’t the story that everybody thought they knew.
“He was a code breaker but it delves into his life and history and his huge mistreatment at the hands of the British establishment as a result of identifying as a homosexual man and being prosecuted due to his sexuality. While at the same time it explores the wonder of this man’s brain - he wrote about thinking machines and what they might mean. People make a leap between not just a link between AI but every phone in every pocket is related to Alan Turing.
“He is the Godfather of something that is so embedded in our society and he in no small part helped to win the second world war and yet this country persecuted him for his sexual orientation. That is a profoundly moving and important story to tell. Now more than ever.”
The play was written by Hugh Whitemore in 1968 and its first stage performance won Derek Jacobi an Oliver Award.
Since then it has been performed many times, although the Made in Northampton version will feature the maiden performance of a new epilogue written by Neil Bartlett. Mark Edel-Hunt plays the part of Turing.
Jones says the social injustice experienced by Turing is relevant today in a world where freedoms could once again be under threat.
He says:
“The new ending celebrates how far we have come since the play was written and since Alan Turing died and celebrates how people’s civil liberties, particularly the LGBTQ+ have come. That’s a remarkable thing, it’s remarkable that Alan is on the fifty pound note. However things can change really quickly and unless we celebrate and hold onto those civil liberties and shout about that we care about it, then who knows what may happen, regardless of whatever political party is in power.”
The play has the Made in Northampton badge, meaning that it has been put together in Northampton from rehearsals to staging. The theatre receives ten percent of its income from grants from the Arts Council and West Northamptonshire Council and the remaining 90 per cent comes from ticket sales.
In contrast to theatres in the capital, tickets remain reasonably priced, costing from £10 to £45.
Jones says:
“It is a play of exquisitely drawn characters that feels really well sculpted and funny and entertaining and beautiful and moving.
“I think you’ll laugh and cry and everything in between and hopefully come out of the theatre wanting to know more about Alan, but feel really nourished from the theatrical activity. And hopefully excited to come back.”
As for his own commitment to the theatre he says ‘I have no desire to go anywhere soon. There is lots I want to achieve going forward. It is a big ship and time disappears, but there’s lots we want to put on but also think about how we want to work with different communities and support arts and theatre making in Northamptonshire.
“It is important to support theatre being made in Northampton and Northamptonshire at a time when financially that is becoming more and more difficult.”
Head to the theatre’s website for more information and booking details.
