Alan Turing: Breaking The Code

Feb 10 – Mar 5, New Theatre, 542 King St, Newtown

Alan Turing was a young mathematical genius who, among other brilliant minds, worked in a mansion in England known as Bletchley Park during World War II. They were all feverishly engaged in trying to decipher the infamous Enigma code, through which the German military was covertly communicating its strategy.

Turing invented the machine that finally cracked the code, but the accolades for him were short-lived. He was arrested soon after the war ended and charged with ‘gross indecency’ relating to his sexual relationship with a boy. Rather than go to prison, Turing volunteered to be chemically castrated. It ruined him physically and mentally and he ended his own life at age 41 in 1954.

Turing’s story was poignantly portrayed in the highly acclaimed film, The Imitation Game, and this stage retelling is every bit as moving.

“The plot moves between the police interviews that lead to his arrest and trial on charges or gross indecency, and his teenage romantic friendship with Christopher Morcom, his time at Bletchley Park and then Manchester University, his erotic relationships, and his eventual death. We watch him deal with the codes of class and sexuality as he navigates these different worlds.” – Anthony Skuse, director

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