We’re very lucky here in Northampton – with autumn nearly upon us there’s so much good stuff going on we shouldn’t just settle in on the sofa every night.
Case in point – go and see some live theatre. A brand new production of Hugh Whitemore’s acclaimed play Breaking the Code, has opened at Northampton’s Royal & Derngate, running from Thursday 11 to Saturday 27 September, before touring.
The play follows mastermind Alan Turing’s career as a visionary mathematician and codebreaker and examines how society’s attitude towards his sexuality changed the course of his life. Directed by Royal & Derngate’s Artistic Director Jesse Jones as part of the theatre’s Made in Northampton season, for the first time the revival will feature new material that speaks to Turing’s lasting legacy for modern Britain and the development of Turing’s law, with a new epilogue by Neil Bartlett that takes into consideration Turing’s Royal pardon in 2013.
Mastermind. Code breaker. Maverick. Arguably one of the most important and inquisitive minds of the twentieth century. Alan Turing is famed for cracking the Enigma code at Bletchley Park, effectively securing victory for the Allied forces in WWII.
From triumph to tragedy, get to know a human being who loved, lost and never stopped asking questions in a quest for truth and understanding in this new production of Hugh Whitemore’s Breaking the Code.
The role of Alan Turing will be played by Mark Edel-Hunt (Leopoldstadt, West End). The cast also includes Niall Costigan (The Railway Children, Hull Truck Theatre), Joseph Edwards (The Red Shoes, Royal Shakespeare Company), Peter Hamilton Dyer (The Promise, Chichester Festival Theatre), Carla Harrison-Hodge (Cyrano de Bergerac, Jamie Lloyd Company), Susie Trayling (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, West End), and Joe Usher (Falkland Sound, RSC).
The production is directed by Jesse Jones (Education, Education, Education Royal & Derngate/The Wardrobe Ensemble) with set and costume design by Jonathan Fensom (The Two Popes, Royal & Derngate). Johanna Town (The Comedy About Spies, Mischief/West End) is the lighting designer and Robin Colyer (The King’s Speech, Watermill Theatre) is sound designer and composer. They are joined by Gerrard Martin as movement director, Hannah Miller as casting director and Gemma Boaden as Voice & Dialect Coach.
Breaking the Code takes to the Royal stage from Thursday 11 to Saturday 27 September. Tickets – priced from £15* – can be booked online at http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/breaking-the-code or by calling Box Office on 01604 624811.
Breaking the Code is a co-production between Royal & Derngate, Northampton, Landmark Theatres and Oxford Playhouse, in association with Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse and HOME.
The Made in Northampton season is sponsored locally by Michael Jones Jeweller.
