Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Presents Breaking the Code At Central Square

Catalyst Collaborative@MIT, a science theater collaboration between MIT and Underground Railway Theater, presents Hugh Whitemore's BREAKING THE CODE, an elegant, deeply moving portrait of mathematician Alan Turning, played by Allyn Burrows and directed by Adam Zahler. The press performance is April 10, 2011 at 2PM.

BREAKING THE CODE is presented as part of FAST (Festival of Arts, Science, and Technology), a prominent feature of MIT's 150 Anniversary Celebration, and is part of the Cambridge Science Festival. The production is sponsored in part by Novartis and the Council for the Arts at MIT.

According to Winston Churchill, Alan Turing made the single biggest contribution to the Allied victory over the Nazis when he broke the German's Enigma machine codes. He later worked on one of the first machines recognized as a modern computer. His 1950 "Turing Test" was designed to measure the intelligence of a machine. He asked whether a machine could think and if it would be possible for the machine to fool a human into believing that the machine was human, too.

Despite being a celebrated war hero, Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for gross indecency after he admitted to having a sexual relationship with a man. He avoided a prison sentence by agreeing to submit o experimental chemical castration. He also forfeited his security privileges and was no longer permitted to work for the UK Government Communications Headquarters. Two years later, in 1954, Turing committed suicide. In 2009 British Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued an apology: "On behalf of the British government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan's work, I am very proud to say: we're sorry. You deserved so much better."

Hugh Whitemore's BREAKING THE CODE, an adaptation of AnDrew Hodges 1983 biography, Alan Turing: The Enigma, examines Turing's expansive spirit, which embraced seeming contradictions: gay man and war hero, marathon runner and Disney fan. BREAKING THE CODE offers an intimate view of the remarkable man who is credited with laying the groundwork for computer technology and Artificial Intelligence.

Hugh Whitemore (Playwright) studied for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he later became a member of the Council. British television includes The Gathering Storm about Churchill in the '30's, with Albert Finney and Vanessa Redgrave, 2002 Emmy, Writers Guild of America Award; and its sequel, Into the Storm, to be shown by HBO/BBC later this year. American television: Concealed Enemies - about Alger Hiss, Emmy nominations; The Final Days, a dramatization of the Woodward/Bernstein book about Nixon's downfall. Film: The Return of the Soldier (adaptation of the novel by Rebecca West), Mel Brooks' 84 Charing Cross Road, Utz (adaptation of Bruce Chatwin's novel), and Franco Zeffirelli's Jane Eyre. Stage plays: Stevie, Pack of Lies, The Best of Friends, It's Ralph, A Letter of Resignation, Disposing of the Body, God Only Knows and a new version of Pirandello's As You Desire Me, all translated and produced throughout the world. His awards include a special Communications Award from the American Mathematical Society for Breaking the Code. Mr. Whitemore was the News International Visiting Professor in broadcast media at Oxford University in 2003-04. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Honorary Fellow of King's College, London.

Performing the role of Alan Turing and making his Underground Railway Theater debut is Allyn Burrows, Artistic Director of Actors' Shakespeare Project, where he has appeared in Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, Timon of Athens, All's Well That Ends Well, King Lear, Measure for Measure, and Richard III. He won the 2006 Elliot Norton Award for his performances in King Lear (Actors' Shakespeare Project), Five By Tenn (SpeakEasy Stage Company), and The Homecoming (Merrimack Repertory Theatre). In Boston he has also appeared in Shipwrecked! (The Lyric Stage Company of Boston), The Seafarer, and Aunt Dan and Lemon (Merrimack Repertory Theatre). His Off-Broadway credits include King Lear, Bug, Killer Joe, Louis Slotin Sonata, Closetland, The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd. Mr. Burrows has appeared regionally in All My Sons (Actors Theatre of Louisville); Colossus of Rhodes (American Conservatory Theatre); Twelfth Night (Long Wharf); Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V, Midsummer Night's Dream, and Love's Labour's Lost (Shakespeare & Company).

Debra Wise appears in BREAKING THE CODE as Turing's mother, Sarah. Ms. Wise is a founding member of Underground Railway Theater, serving as Artistic Director since 1998. She is also the Co-Director of Catalyst Collaborative@MIT. As a performer, playwright, director, and/or dramaturg, Ms. Wise has been involved in the collaborative creation of over 30 new works. Last season at Underground Railway Theater, she performed in Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory (2009 IRNE nomination, Best Actress), part of Tru Grace: Holiday Memoirs. From 1997-2003, Ms. Wise co-directed the Women on Top Theater Festival of new works by New England women theater artists. She has performed with companies both in New York (The Public Theater and the Ark, with Julie Taymor and Elizabeth Swados) and in Boston (most recently in New Repertory Theatre's production of David Mamet's Boston Marriage, and with SpeakEasy Stage Company, Súgán, and Revels). She is Theater Specialist for the Art Works for Schools Program, a collaboration with Harvard's Project Zero, teaching thinking in and through the arts and across the curriculum. In 2007-8, she led a residency at Tufts University entitled "Theater and Active Citizenship," and has taught at MIT and Northeastern University.

Joining Mr. Burrows and Ms. Wise in the cast of BREAKING THE CODE are artists who have worked with some of the hottest companies in the region; all are making their Underground Railway Theater debuts:

Danny Bryck (Christopher Morcom and Nikos) most recently appeared in Cymbeline (Actors' Shakespeare Project). He served as dialect coach for Ti-Jean & His Brothers. Additional credits include the title role in Cyrano de Bergerac in English and Spanish (Apollinaire Theatre). He has also appeared at the Publick Theatre, the Huntington Theatre Company, American Repertory Theater, and the title role in Hedwig and the Angry Inch with Blue Spruce Theatre. Mr. Bryck is an Artistic Associate with Whistler in the Dark and teaches at several Boston theaters.
Marc Harpin (Smith) recently appeared in Theatre on Fire's production of Ethan Coen's Almost an Evening. Additional credits include Justin in Company One/Phoenix's production of Christmas Belles, Jim in New Rep on Tour's Glass Menagerie, Algernon in Wellesley Summer Theatre's Importance of Being Earnest, Young Man in Bash with Theatre on Fire, and James in The Lyric Stage Company of Boston's Red Herring.

Liz Hayes (Pat Green) credits include SpeakEasy Stage Company's Elliot Norton Award-winning, Adding Machine: A Musical; Dead Man's Cell Phone, Blithe Spirit, Three Tall Women, and others at the Lyric Stage Company, Look Back in Anger and Marisol with Orfeo Group (founding member), 4.48 Psychosis with Fort Point Theatre Channel, Strangers on a Train with Stoneham Theatre, and A Midsummer Night's Dream with Boston Theatre Works.

Dafydd Rees (Mick Ross and Dillwyn Knox) has appeared in Entertaining Mr. Sloane, Travesties, The Seagull, and others (The Publick Theatre of Boston); The Importance Of Being Earnest, 1776 (The Lyric Stage Company of Boston); Gagarin Way, Talking To Terrorists (Sugan Theatre Company); The Mousetrap (Stoneham Theatre); Noises Off, Shining City, Public Jokes, Private Places, The Homecoming, and Closer (Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre). Film: Noelle. Mr. Rees is also the author of some 30 books on rock music.

BREAKING THE CODE brings together an award-winning design team including Janie E. Howland (scenic design), Franklin Meissner, Jr. (lighting design), Frances Nelson McSherry (costume design), and Bill Barclay (sound design and composition) and Sylvia Bagaglio (properties coordination). Dominique D. Burford is the production stage manager.

Adam Zahler's (Director) previous CC@MIT project was a staged reading of Alan Brody's Operation Epsilon. Boston: New Repertory Theatre: The Misanthrope, Orson's Shadow, Frozen (Best of 2006, EdgeBoston), Permanent Collection (2005 Elliot Norton Award, Outstanding Director, Best Plays of 2004 WBUR, Best Treatment of Issues 2004 Boston Phoenix), No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs (IRNE nominations, Best Production - Best Director), Rose, Stonewall Jackson's House (Elliot Norton, Outstanding Production; Best of Season, Wall Street Journal), and Kindertransport (IRNE nominations, Best Director, Best Production). Speakeasy Stage: Brooklyn Boy. Boston Playwrights' Theatre: Haymarket. Lyric Stage West: Wit. The Nora Theatre Company: The Fever. Assistant Director to Austin Pendleton, The Size of the World, Circle Repertory. Mr. Zahler is currently Assistant Professor of Theatre at Worcester State University.

For more information on BREAKING THE CODE, the public can call (866) 811-4111 or visit CentralSquareTheater.org.

Throughout the run of BREAKING THE CODE there will be many pre-show symposia and post-show conversations featuring world-class scientists, historians, and humanists. Additionally, there will be an Enigma Machine in the lobby, with demonstrations on selected dates. For a complete list of events visit CentralSquareTheater.org.

Date Time Talk-in-the-Box Series_________________________
Sun., Apr. 10
Post-show
Sunday Soiree: Congratulate the cast at a complimentary reception.
Thu., Apr. 14
Post-show
Artists & Audiences: Join the cast in a post-performance talkback
Thu., Apr. 21
Post-show
Central Salon: This is your theater - join the conversation with CST leadership with complimentary wine and cheese.
Fri., Apr. 22
Pre-Show
The Story Collider: New York City's science-themed storytelling project.
Thu., Apr. 28
Post-show
Scholar Social: Renowned academics illuminate ideas raised by the production in dialogue with the audience.

BREAKING THE CODE plays at Central Square Theater, 450 Mass. Ave. in Cambridge, Thursday, April 7th through Sunday, May 8th. Performances are Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 PM, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, with matinees on Sundays at 2 PM. Tickets are priced at $40, $30 for seniors (ages 60+), $25 for students (college ID), $15 for youth (12-18); tickets are purchased by calling (866) 811-4111, online at CentralSquareTheater.org, or at the CST box office. Auxiliary events are all free with the price of admission. For box office hours, group discounts, and more info call (617) 576-9278 x210.

About Central Square Theater
At Central Square Theater, a new state-of-the-art community-based theatrical arts facility, audiences find, under one roof, the distinctive repertoires of two award-winning non-profit professional companies, The Nora Theatre Company and Underground Railway Theater, as well as collaborative projects drawing on their creative synergy. Schools, families and community groups benefit from outreach and educational programs, and local businesses enjoy increased foot traffic and new customers. As the first permanent home for these two theater companies, Central Square Theater is a vibrant hub of theatrical, educational and social activity, where artists and audiences come together to create theater vital to our communities. The seeds of the Central Square Theater (CST) were sown in 1997, with a partnership between The Nora Theatre Company, Underground Railway Theater, and the Community Development Department of the City of Cambridge, which brokered a relationship with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). MIT constructed the building and provided an extraordinary 20-year lease commitment at under $5 per square foot -- a contribution valued at more than $2 million over time.

CATALYST COLLABORATIVE@MIT AT CENTRAL SQUARE THEATER - Calendar Listing Information
BREAKING THE CODE
by Hugh Whitemore

Hugh Whitemore's elegant and deeply moving play is the story of British mathematician Alan Turing, whose expansive spirit embraced seeming contradictions: gay man and war hero, marathon runner and Disney fan. Breaking the Code explores the connections between Turing's cracking of the unbreakable Nazi Enigma code and his refusal to live a closeted life, offering an intimate view of the remarkable man whose vision of a universal machine set the stage for modern computer technology.

Presented by: Catalyst Collaborative@MIT at Central Square Theater

Cast: Danny Bryck (Christopher Morcom and Nikos)
Allyn Burrows (Alan Turing)
Marc Harpin (Smith)
Liz Hayes (Pat Green)
Dafydd Rees (Mick Ross and Dillwyn Knox)
Debra Wise (Sarah)

Director: Adam Zahler

Production Stage Manager: Dominique D. Burford

Design Team: Janie E. Howland (Scenic Design)
Frances Nelson McSherry (Costume Design)
Franklin Meissner, Jr. (Lighting Design)
Bill Barclay (Sound Design and Composition)
Sylvia Bagaglio (Properties Coordinator)

Performing at: Central Square Theater
450 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139

Press Performance: Sunday, April 10, 2011 at 2PM

Performance Schedule: April 7- May 8, 2011
Wed., Thurs. at 7:30PM; Fri at 8PM; Sat. at 8PM; Sun at 2PM

Run Time: 2 hours

Ticket Prices: $40, adult
$30, senior
$25, student

Student Rush: $20 with valid college ID, day-of-show, subject to availability
Box Office: (866) 811-4111, CentralSquareTheater.org

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