WORTH A LOOK?: ****

Tracklist: Natural Wonders Every Child Should Know; He Dreamed Of Machines; The Enigma; Other Ranks; The Memory And The Control; The Trial; Only In His Death; A Man From The Future

It’s the voice of former prime minister Gordon Brown making a 2009 apology to codebreaker and computer pioneer Alan Turing, acknowledging his contribution to winning World War Two and expressing regret at the inhumanity of the homophobic laws he was persecuted by on the title track that bring home how relevant to today this story remains.

• Read on for reasons including how this is a moving reminder of an extraordinary life lived by a man whose brilliance made such a difference but was brutally cut short

We originally saw this collaboration with Turing biographer Andrew Hodges at the Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms in 2014 and thought it deserved a place next to curiosities in the duo’s work like the Battleship Potemkin soundtrack we saw performed in Trafalgar Square in 2004 and the 2011 Sadler’s Wells ballet The Most Incredible Thing.

They later decided to revise the piece to give it more of an electronic emphasis, and Sven Helbig, the original orchestrator, suggested reworking in a more intimate arrangement for 8 string players.

The style is predominantly spoken word with narration by Juliet Stevenson (Blindness, Donmar) and her theatrical performance does lend a gravitas to the story of a young man growing up gay in early 20th century England dreaming of machines which would revolutionise lives.

It’s fair to say we weren’t bowled over by it in 2014 but the re-emphasis of electronic sounds suits the subject material and the emergence of AI – as both a threat to humanity and an opportunity for it – makes Turing’s work seem ever more important and relevant.

Opener Natural Wonders Every Child Should Know sparked Turing’s interest in science at boarding school where he fell for fellow pupil Christopher Morecambe and would become acquainted with tragedy early in his life.

He devoted his time to winning World War Two with the codebreakers at Bletchley Park whom Churchill described as: ‘The geese that laid the golden eggs and never cackled.’

It’s a familiar tale which has recently found theatrical success in the amazing, different but similar Operation Mincemeat (Fortune Theatre, London).

Turing was open about his homosexuality at a time when this combination of ‘science and sex’ was illegal. The state turned on him when he contributed to the war victory, he was prosecuted for his sexuality, chemically castrated for his crime and committed suicide ‘when the balance of his mind was disturbed’.

It’s a story that grows ever more poignant around Remembrance Day and underlines both the ridiculousness of gays as security risks and the importance of that eventual Government Turing pardon which was applied to so many others undermined by those they served in that way.

Turing’s story is an extraordinary 1 and Pet Shop Boys’ telling of it in A Man From The Future is a moving reminder of an extraordinary life lived by a man whose brilliance made such a difference but was brutally cut short.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Pet Shop Boys Tickets
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