Review: Breaking The Code (Oxford Playhouse)

Breaking the Code is a new production based on Hugh Whitemore’s book, with an additional new epilogue by Neil Bartlett.  I was excited to be invited to Oxford Playhouse to review this piece, as I already knew a fair amount about Alan Turing and the codebreakers at Bletchley Park during World War 2, but was hoping to find out more about the man himself. I had the added bonus of attending on an evening where there were both captions, and a post-show talk.  But more on those later.

The first thing of notice was the set (Jonathan Fensom) which was static and took up all of the theatre space, and yet somehow was able to be a fitting background for every scene in the play from Turing’s childhood home, to Bletchley Park and further afield. It was interesting not only as a background but also because props were present and used in various scenes throughout as well. The set designer was also responsible for the costumes, which were perfect for the characters and story, with a particular nod to Alan Turing’s ever present ill-fitting suit.  

The windows in the set also enabled Johanna Town’s lighting design to be effective, I found this particularly noticeable when Turing was visiting a police station. But the lighting highlights for me were in the second half, which both began and ended with one person addressing a school assembly and the house lights being up, making the audience feel a part of that scene.  This had quite an impact on how these moments hit home.

Mark Edel-Hunt took on the role of Alan Turing and brought him alive on stage.  Not only was this a huge role, but being on stage for most of the run of the show but not once faltering was quite something to watch, especially with the quick transitions between scenes from different periods of Turing’s life.  Direction by Jesse Jones meant that we saw a lot of clear discussion of Turing’s sexuality, but no mention of his neurodiversity.   To anyone who has knowledge of autism however, these traits were demonstrated clearly – the social awkwardness, savant abilities, sensory seeking, stims and avoidance of unexpected touch - all traits that can at times be present in high functioning autistic people. To other audience members perhaps this didn’t matter so much. However the way this man struggled with his own self and yet achieved so much was clearly demonstrated in this production. This portrayal by Mark Edel-Hunt was so authentic I felt I was watching Alan Turing himself on stage at times.

The rest of the cast were essential to push the story along, with Joseph Edwards as Turing’s childhood best friend (and possibly first love) being part of the show and life for a short time but having a life-long impact on our protagonist. The actor’s reappearance at the end of the show to deliver a speech from the viewpoint of a LGBTQ sixth former in present times was incredibly moving. We also needed to see Turing’s mum (Susie Trayling) and close friend and fellow code breaker Pat (Carla Harrison-Hodge) as the two women who didn’t quite understand this man yet loved him all the same. The difference between when Pat and Turing were discussing mathematics and when he mentioned his personal life was fully evident on her face and in her mannerisms. You could see how uncomfortable she felt with the latter.  

Peter Hamilton Dyer was wonderful as Dillwyn Knox, a senior team member at Bletchley Park who tried to gently steer Turing. The personal conflict demonstrated by police officer Mick Ross (Niall Costigan) when he had empathy with an individual but a duty to follow the law was subtly presented but there nonetheless.

Joe Usher played two of Turing’s lovers, one longer term emotionally connected partner, Ron, and the other perfectly demonstrating Turing’s penchant for younger men, even if they can’t speak his language.  Both portrayals fizzed with chemistry and the presence of Greek-speaking Nikos gave Turing the freedom to give more of his backstory away without being understood by the person he was offloading to.  Both of these connections felt natural and brought clarity to Turing’s situation – he was trying to live as authentically as he could at that difficult time in history. (This was also where being at a captioned performance was a bonus, as the Greek words being said by Nikos were translated into English on the caption boards.)

A post-show discussion featuring the cast and some of the crew gave insight into the creative process.  Hearing that director Jesse Jones gives certain characters the freedom to adapt their performance each time shows the belief he has in his cast, and rightly so.

Alan Turing survived for 41 years at a time that homosexuality was a criminal offence, autism was yet to be defined and a diagnosis a thing of the future. Despite his impact on the War effort, and his advanced thoughts on computers and AI, none of this was taken into account when criminal proceedings were taken against him. Enforced chemical castration would have had such a horrible impact on him, not only affecting his natural sexuality but also the uncontrollable changes as an autistic person would have had a huge impact on his mental health. It’s no wonder that he took matters into his own hands.  His subsequent posthumous royal pardon and addition to the fifty pound note will always feel like too little too late to me.

It’s easy to think it’s a shame he was not born at the right time, as his existence was relatively recent in the whole timeline of history.  And yet, he absolutely was… because he had a direct impact on how World War 2 ended, and his work benefitted this country as a whole.  This production has made me think about what a hero he truly was, but also on a larger scale resonated with my belief that all people are individuals with thoughts and feelings that are valid.

Acceptance of difference is a gift that more should be willing to give.

⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

The run for Breaking The Code at Oxford Playhouse has now finished but the tour continues to:

New Theatre, PeterboroughTue 14 – Thu 16 October 2025

Liverpool Everyman & PlayhouseTue 21 – Sat 25 October 2025

HOME, ManchesterTue 28 October to Sat 1 November

If you would like to see my curtain call photographs from this and other shows, please visit my Instagram.

I was gifted a ticket for this show in exchange for an honest review.