I don't know the show--should I put it on my reading list?
Yes. It was written in 1986; it's not a direct transfer of Turing's life, but it draws heavily on Andrew Hodges' groundbreaking Alan Turing: The Enigma (1983), which remains in many ways the best and most comprehensive biography to date. (Among other reasons, Hodges is a mathematician and a gay rights activist and could, in the 1970's, interview a lot of people who'd known Turing personally.) It won all sorts of awards and there's a 1996 television adaptation I don't recommend, because it excises the play's ability to float in and out of layers of time and double- or triple-cast evocatively at need. The play itself is funny, clever, unapologetic, and includes long passages of mathematics and other passionately treated ideas, which as a person who hates to see science dumbed down I appreciate immensely. The one thing I don't like about it is its treatment of its primary female character for the reasons I detailed to sartorias: it's a disservice to the real-life person it's fictitiously supplanting (while other historical players like Dillwyn Knox, Christopher Morcom, and Sara Turing get to appear as themselves) and it highlights a gay man's nonconformity by confirming a woman's obedience to social convention. I don't know if it's possible to address without severe rewriting and I'm pretty sure that's not an option here. Nonetheless, I recommend the play. I have no idea if it's in print, but you should be able to find a library copy if nothing else.
Alternately, we're about to announce a workshop program for new plays, so if you have time and interest in drafting a better take on the story (or anything else) by September 1st, that's also a possibility.
I'm honored. My sole attempts at dramatic writing have so far been confined to freaking out Rob.
(the women scripted to hiss and claw at each other)
Aaaaaaagh.
but Chekov's characters had to embrace "life sucks and then you die" because they were 19th century Russians. Upstate New York trust fund babies have no excuse for that sort of bullshit.
That is a beautiful statement. I hope you put it in print somewhere. I'm very sorry that play took up space in your brain.
[edit] I'm sorry that play took up space in anyone's brain.
no subject
Yes. It was written in 1986; it's not a direct transfer of Turing's life, but it draws heavily on Andrew Hodges' groundbreaking Alan Turing: The Enigma (1983), which remains in many ways the best and most comprehensive biography to date. (Among other reasons, Hodges is a mathematician and a gay rights activist and could, in the 1970's, interview a lot of people who'd known Turing personally.) It won all sorts of awards and there's a 1996 television adaptation I don't recommend, because it excises the play's ability to float in and out of layers of time and double- or triple-cast evocatively at need. The play itself is funny, clever, unapologetic, and includes long passages of mathematics and other passionately treated ideas, which as a person who hates to see science dumbed down I appreciate immensely. The one thing I don't like about it is its treatment of its primary female character for the reasons I detailed to
Alternately, we're about to announce a workshop program for new plays, so if you have time and interest in drafting a better take on the story (or anything else) by September 1st, that's also a possibility.
I'm honored. My sole attempts at dramatic writing have so far been confined to freaking out Rob.
(the women scripted to hiss and claw at each other)
Aaaaaaagh.
but Chekov's characters had to embrace "life sucks and then you die" because they were 19th century Russians. Upstate New York trust fund babies have no excuse for that sort of bullshit.
That is a beautiful statement. I hope you put it in print somewhere. I'm very sorry that play took up space in your brain.
[edit] I'm sorry that play took up space in anyone's brain.