Review: Breaking The Code at Robin Hood Theatre, Averham

The remarkable and ultimately tragic story of Alan Turing is told in a powerful performance at Robin Hood Theatre, Averham, this week.

Breaking The Code explores the man himself and his personal troubles, rather than the better known story of the mathematician who helped break the enigma code and thus shorten the second world war ­— and it makes fascinating viewing.

The undoubted star of the show is Andrew Beighton as Turing. It is a long play of more than two hours and he is on stage for virtually all of it, flicking between his confidence as a code breaker and mathematician, and shame at his homosexuality.

From the start he is being hounded by the suspicious authorities ­— homosexuality was a crime in Britain then ­— as they ‘investigate’ a burglary at Turing’s home. It would lead to Turing’s downfall and ultimate death.

The drama flicks effortlessly back and forth between key periods of Turing’s life, examining his relationship with his mother (Mary Scott) his tragic school friend Christopher (Nathan Jones) Bletchley’s Dillwyn Knox (Jonty Redgate) and the woman who loved him, Pat Green (Rebecca Briggs-Price).

Through it all is his relationship with various men, including his disastrous dalliance with Ron Miller (Tim McManus) that drew the police’s attention in his interview with Mick Ross (Tony Smith) after his home was burgled. Worried about the wartime secrets Turing knew, a close eye was also kept on him by government (Ian Collinson).

Directed by Clive Harmston for Robin Hood Theatre Company, this is an incredibly complex story yet it is simply and sympathetically told.

It runs at the Robin Hood Theatre until Saturday. ­