''Breaking the Code'' is a 1986 play by Hugh Whitemore about British

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

Alan Turing Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical ...

, who was a key player in the breaking of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Enigma code at

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and a pioneer of computer science. The play thematically links Turing's

cryptographic Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or '' -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adv ...

activities with his attempts to grapple with his

homosexuality Homosexuality is Romance (love), romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romant ...

. It was adapted into a 1996 television film directed by

Herbert Wise Herbert Wise (31 August 1924 – 5 August 2015) was an Austrian-born film and television producer and director. He was born as Herbert Weisz in Vienna, Austria, and began his career as a director at Shrewsbury Repertory Company in 1950. He was at ...

, with

Derek Jacobi Sir Derek George Jacobi (; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor. He has appeared in various stage productions of William Shakespeare such as '' Hamlet'', '' Much Ado About Nothing'', '' Macbeth'', '' Twelfth Night'', '' The Tempest'', ' ...

reprising his stage role as Turing.

Characters

* Mick Ross, detective * Christopher Morcom, Turing's childhood friend (1911–1930) * Sara Turing, Turing's mother (1881–1976) * Ron Miller, a young man having an affair with Turing (based on Arnold Murray) * Dillwyn Knox, manager at

recruiting Turing for government service * Patricia "Pat" Green, a co-worker of Turing's at Bletchley (based on

Joan Clarke Joan Elisabeth Lowther Murray, MBE (''née'' Clarke; 24 June 1917 – 4 September 1996) was an English cryptanalyst and numismatist best known for her work as a code-breaker at Bletchley Park during the Second World War. Although she did no ...

; 1917–1996)

Performance history

Following an eight-month run at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

's West End beginning on 21 October 1986, the play ran on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

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from 15 November 1987, to 10 April 1988, in both cases starring

. The Broadway production also featured

Jenny Agutter Jennifer Ann Agutter (born 20 December 1952) is a British actress. She began her career as a child actress in 1964, appearing in '' East of Sudan'', ''Star!'', and two adaptations of '' The Railway Children''—the BBC's 1968 television seria ...

in the role of Pat Green. William A. Henry III, writing in ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' magazine, described the play as "elegant and poignant". The Broadway production was nominated for three

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

s including Best Actor in a Play, Best Featured Actor in a Play, and Best Direction of a Play, and for two

Drama Desk The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fol ...

awards, for Best Actor and Best Featured Actor. Following Jacobi's departure, the London production transferred to the

Comedy Theatre The Harold Pinter Theatre, known as the Comedy Theatre until 2011,

with

John Castle John Michael Frederick Castle (born 14 January 1940) is an English actor. He is best known for his film and television work, most notably playing Bill in Michelangelo Antonioni's '' Blowup'' (1966) and Geoffrey in '' The Lion in Winter'' (19 ...

as Turing. The national première for Italy of the play was translated and directed by

Luca Giberti The last universal common ancestor (LUCA) is the most recent population from which all organisms now living on Earth share common descent—the most recent common ancestor of all current life on Earth. This includes all cellular organisms; t ...

at the Teatro Stabile in Genoa, featuring

Jurij Ferrini Jurij is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Jurij Alschitz (born 1947), theatre director, theatre and acting theorist who has lived in Berlin since 1992 *Jurij Brězan (1916–2006), Sorbian writer *Jurij Cherednikov (born 1964), ...

. During the Turing Centenary 2012, there were two productions of the play in Germany, at the English Theatre Frankfurt and an amateur tour through Germany and the Netherlands by the

University Players Hamburg A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

. The play was also staged just before the start of the Alan Turing Year celebrations, in December 2011, at the Old Fire Station in Oxford, by Oxford Theatre Guild. The play was produced at The

Royal Exchange Theatre The Royal Exchange is a grade II listed building in Manchester, England. It is located in the city centre on the land bounded by St Ann's Square, Exchange Street, Market Street, Cross Street and Old Bank Street. The complex includes the Royal ...

in 2016, the first major revival of the play in thirty years, with Daniel Rigby in the role of Alan Turing On 5 October 2019 a new production of the play began at Salisbury Playhouse in the UK. Directed by Christian Durham the performance is given in the round. To achieve this the usual seating configuration of the Playhouse was changed and seats placed on the stage. The part of Alan Turing was played by Edward Bennett.

In other media

Television

The play was adapted for television in a 1996 BBC filmed production, directed by

, and also starring Jacobi, which won a

Broadcasting Press Guild The Broadcasting Press Guild (BPG) is a British association of journalists dedicated to the topic of general media issues. History The Guild was established in 1974 as a breakaway of The Critics' Circle. Currently it groups over 100 staff and f ...

Award and was nominated for two BAFTA TV awards, for best single drama and best actor, and for a

GLAAD GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayal ...

Media Award. It was broadcast in the United States by PBS on '' Masterpiece Theatre''. A producer's cut was released on DVD in 2012.

References

External links

*
Performance details in the Theatre Archive, University of Bristol

''Breaking the Code'' plot summary & character descriptions
from StageAgent.com

at the Alan Turing Scrapbook
archived
at Perma.cc. {{DEFAULTSORT:Breaking The Code 1986 plays Cultural depictions of Alan Turing Bletchley Park Enigma machine LGBT-related plays Plays by Hugh Whitemore Cryptography in fiction British plays adapted into films Plays set in the 1940s Plays set in the United Kingdom