St. Jude's Players

Breaking the Code

About the Show:

by Hugh Whitemore

Based on the book Alan Turing, The Enigma by Andrew Hodges

A compassionate and often amusing play concerning the remarkable mind and tragic fate of Alan Turing, mathematician and computer pioneer who broke the code in two ways. One was by cracking the German Enigma code at Bletchley Park during World War II for which he was decorated by Churchill and lauded by the state. The second was by shattering the gentlemanly English code of sexual discretion and making little attempt to disguise his homosexuality. For this he was arrested on a charge of gross indecency. Whitemore’s play, shifting back and forth in time, constantly seeks to find a connection between the two events and tackles major questions such as the relationship between mathematics and personal morals whilst telling a very good story.

We received very positive reactions from the audience for this show. Christopher Try said, “Tonight was the first AmDram production I have ever attended and I was amazed. We are all conditioned by watching professional productions on the TV, and the danger is that we forget that we are not watching the results of highly experienced actors (and actresses, to be old fashioned) supported by teams of professionals. However the perfomances produced this evening were outstanding. My congratulations to all of you involved.”