Dots and Dashes: A Bletchley Park Musical – The Space

Picture: Callan Riches

Dots and Dashes: A Bletchley Park Musical continues at The Space, London until 14 January 2023.

Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩

As its name suggests, Dots and Dashes highlights the lives of six women working at Bletchley Park during the Second World War, bound by the Official Secrets Act thanks to the sensitive nature of their vital work deciphering enemy messages. It’s a wartime topic that many might already be familiar with, but here the story is retold from the perspective of the women rather than with the men at the forefront as has most traditionally been the case.

Entirely self-written, composed and produced by all-female company ChopLogic Productions, this new spin on an important piece of British history is thoughtfully and accurately depicted from a feminine standpoint. As recent graduates themselves it feels, somewhat movingly, like this company use their standing and power as modern-day young women to give a voice to their ancestors who never had that opportunity.

All six members of ChopLogic – Katie Damer, Charlotte Fenning, Martha Morris, Lisa Hazel-White, Tabitha Radcliffe and Amber-May Hutton – represent different characters each dealing with their own circumstances and situations that affected many women of that period, whether worried about a loved one away on the battlefields or dealing with taboo subjects of the era such as homosexuality and unwed pregnancy. They may not have been directly on the front line but nonetheless upheld crucial codebreaking efforts which contributed to the end of the war an estimated two years earlier than without this behind-the-scenes dedication.

The subject matter is clearly well researched and attentively portrayed, with scenes bookended by projected footage from the time to further support their authenticity. However, while the team bravely creates this as a musical with all original songs, except for a finale of ‘We’ll Meet Again’, the music and lyrics fall short of the sophistication of the rest of the piece.

Moments of well-arranged harmony between the cast are too often overshadowed by slow-moving melodies, awkwardly structured lyrics and at times discordant and overly repetitive polyphony.

The occasional choreography that accompanies the songs also seems stilted and a little out of keeping with the subject matter, distracting from what is otherwise a mature, thought-provoking and largely well-presented dramatic representation of these women’s lives.

Sorcha Exworthy