STAGE REVIEW : Play Is Engaging Look at Uneasy, Enigmatic Life

SOLANA BEACH —  During World War II, Alan Turing, a British mathematician, broke a secret code and helped save England from the Nazis.

But a decade later, Turing was treated more like a scoundrel than a hero. He was tried, sentenced and forced to undergo humiliating medical treatment, all because he admitted he was homosexual.

In “Breaking the Code,” a San Diego premiere now in a beautifully honed production at the North Coast Repertory Theatre, playwright Hugh Whitemore takes a tough look both at Turing--who could not or would not pretend to play by the rules of homophobic society--and at his country, which turned so swiftly and viciously on one of its heroes just because of his sexual orientation.

The result is a tender, complex portrait of a man who was a genius at mathematics but not at understanding people. “Breaking the Code” is a memorable play because Whitemore doesn’t settle for making Turing a stock figure of martyred innocence.

Instead, he takes us on a journey and allows us to see the man with all his ambiguities. He traces Turing’s emotional development from a brash young wunderkind who cannot stand for any hypocrisy to a sadder and ultimately sweeter man who was unprepared to live with the consequences of such honesty.

The complexity of Whitemore’s portrayal, based on the book “Alan Turing: The Enigma” by Andrew Hodges, leaves us much room to form our own interpretations of Turing’s character. Turing told a police officer about his homosexuality during an investigation of a burglary at Turing’s house, which Turing himself had reported. Although homosexuality was a crime in England in the 1950s, one can easily imagine Turing lightly tossing off this information because he thought his genius put him above the law.

But in this production, actor Ron Choularton takes a different tack in his portrayal Turing--and it is a deeply satisfying one. His confession is not proudly blurted out so much as dragged out--the only alternative to a lie, which he cannot stand. His adherence to the truth is inseparable from his passion for mathematics, which is clearly the love of his life.

Choularton humanizes even the passion for mathematics, by clearly linking Turing’s search for artificial intelligence--a mind without a body--to his longing to be reunited with the mind of a beloved childhood friend lost to polio. Choularton’s Turing, rather than being immature, is clearly capable of a deep and abiding love--both for individuals and for his country. Turing’s flaw, such as it is, is that though he appeared not to care what people thought of him, he cared much more than even he knew.

All of which makes his ultimate rejection by his country all the more tragic.

“Breaking the Code” is by far one of the most consistently fine productions ever done by the North Coast Rep. All the elements of performance and design come together seamlessly under the direction of Olive Blakistone, with the help of assistant director Rosina Widdowson-Reynolds. This production creates a powerful emotional rhythm that subtly builds, cascades and climaxes.

The supporting cast radiates quiet passion and conviction. San Diego newcomer Lynn Allison is poignant as Turing’s fellow mathematician who loved Turing enough to want to marry him--despite her knowledge of his homosexuality. Eric Medlin brings dignity to the police officer, Sgt. Mick Ross, who feels that despite whatever personal feelings he has, he must prosecute Turing to the end because he is sworn to protect the law. Robert Larsen conveys a sense of hidden depth in his portrait of Turing’s boss, a man who later turns out to have had secrets held in abeyance. And Coralie Schatz pulls at the heart with her realization of the well-meaning Sara Turing, the mathematician’s mother--who in this play never quite understands what is going on, but loves her child anyway.

Ocie Robinson’s set--a strong but simple metal and wood backdrop--suggests the hard, unyielding walls all these characters find themselves up against. Marvin Read’s sound design, an impression of typewriters and computers whirring and printing, conjures the world in which Turing works and thinks, as well as the nightmare image of the pitiless legal machinery that finally ensnares him. John-Bryan Davis’ costumes elucidate the differences in the characters’ stations: Turing’s clothes never quite match--a metaphor for the fact that Turing himself never knew how to fit in.

The timing of this production, too, prevents anyone from looking at this tragedy as just peculiar to the British or to the time period.

Just recently, in this country, in the same week that American and Soviet heads of state signed an agreement to reduce weapons of genocide, the story that seemed to generate the most talk was of Paul Reubens, the actor who played Pee-wee Herman, the children’s film and television show hero. He was arrested for indecent exposure in an X-rated theater.

“BREAKING THE CODE”

By Hugh Whitemore. Director is Olive Blakistone. Assistant director is Rosina Widdowson-Reynolds. Set and lighting by Ocie Robinson. Costumes and wigs by John-Bryan Davis. Sound by Marvin Read. Stage manager is Renee Porte. With Ron Choularton, Lynn Allison, Coralie Schatz, Scott Coker, Eric Medlin, Victor Pinzon, Robert Larsen, Joseph Nicolau and Stevan Grubic. At 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 7 p.m. Sundays with Sunday matinees at 2 through Sept. 14. Tickets are $12-14. At 987D Lomas Sante Fe Plaza, Solana Beach, 481-1055.