At Bletchley Park, home of Britain's best codebreakers, and it's leafy surrounding, Alan Turing was hard at work turning his extravagant theories into reality - no easy feat at the height of the Second World War. The young and brilliant mathematician created a machine, an elementary computer that would crack the German Enigma code and win Britain the war.
Following the triumphs of VE and VJ day, Alan lived briefly in Hampton, Middlesex (working for the National Physics Laboratory [NPL]) before he found a new role as a professor at Manchester University. Now his sights were set on a bigger goal – the development of the modern computer. This was a goal he would never fully achieve after being publicly humiliated and having his character destroyed by the press due to the uncovering of his sexuality and later guilty verdict for indecency.
Hugh Whitemore’s classic play intertwines an account of Turing's most heroic hour with the story of his betrayal and neglect by the nation he had helped in its darkest hour.
The Manor Players present Whitemore’s play, Breaking the Code at the Riverside Arts Centre, 59, Thames Street; 20th – 22nd April at 8pm. Tickets £10.
On Saturday the tickets will increase to £15 to include a special talk by Lady Nichola Turing, show ticket, drink and nibbles.