An archivist from Chester has an important role to play in the re-enactment of a famous Cheshire trial.
Adam Shaw will transport the court records from the trial Regina v Turing and Murray (for gross indecency) in 1952 from Chester to Knutsford next week as part of a four-day celebration of the life and work of the mathematician and code-breaker Alan Turing.
Celebrity TV ‘judge’ and Strictly 2016 contestant Rob Rinder will read from the records during a salon-style event at the town’s Courthouse Hotel - the site of the original 1952 trial at the Sessions Court - prior to a re-enactment of the actual event by artist Hwa Young Jung and creative company Re:Dock.
Adam, who has worked at Cheshire Record Office in Duke Street for three years, said: “The records will also be on display at Brook Street Chapel throughout the festival, where they will be available to view.”
Regina v Turing and Murray is part of a collaboration with SHIFT (Cheshire East Council) and The Courthouse Hotel, supported by the Knutsford Promenades Association.
This innovative piece of work fuses drama, heritage and virtual reality to enable participants to explore different viewpoints of the trial and of Turing’s work.
This is the first time that an artist has attempted to cover the trial in a live performance and the first time that the subject has been explored in the place where it all happened.
It is one of four Unsung Stories which will take place as part of Heritage Open Days in the UK between September 7-10, coordinated centrally by the National Trust with funding from players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
Also as part of the SHIFT programme, which celebrates digital achievement in the area, Northwich digital artist Gemma May Latham will run Patterncraft coding workshops for children, aged seven and over, at Tatton Park on Sunday, September 10.
Recognised for his role in helping crack the German Enigma code during the Second World War, Alan Turing’s vital contribution to the Allied campaign was brought to life in the Oscar-winning film The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch.
In 1952 Turing was prosecuted for homosexual acts with a young man, Arnold Murray, when such acts were criminal in the UK.
Following his conviction for gross indecency he agreed to experimental chemical castration instead of a prison sentence, following which he took his own life.
The sentence was eventually repealed and Turing was given a posthumous Royal Pardon after a major campaign in 2013.
Regina v Turing and Murray is at the Courthouse Hotel in Knutsford on Friday, September 8 at 7pm and Saturday, September 9 at 2pm and 7pm.
The event is free but booking is essential via www.shift-digital.co.uk .
Rob Rinder will read the Quarter Sessions records at 5.45pm at the same venue on Friday, September 8. No booking required.
The Patterncraft coding workshops at Tatton Park for children aged 7+ are on Sunday, September 10 from 10.30am-12.30pm and 1.30-3.30pm.
Pre-book for the early session for free entry to Tatton Park: https://tattonparkshiftworkshop.eventbrite.co.uk.
The session at 1.30-3.30pm requires payment of an additional entry fee to Tatton Park.
