It only took John Rudd two days to rebuild the set for a Lansing Civic Players show forced out of its leased auditorium by the Catholic Church.But it took him nearly a decade to realize he needed a better relationship with his brother.

The Lansing Community College architecture student’s brother, David Rudd, is cast as the lead in “Breaking the Code,” set to open Friday at the Hill Center Auditorium in Lansing. The play tells the story of Alan Turing, a brilliant British mathematician who broke the Nazi Enigma code during World War II.

Turing was hailed as a war hero until it was revealed that he was gay.

John Rudd said the similarities between the production and his life hit home.

“I was 12 years old when my brother told our family he was gay,” he said. “After his coming out, I was horrible and hateful to my brother out of ignorance.”

But that changed after John Rudd said the Diocese of Lansing discriminated against the play.

On Dec. 21, less than a month before the play’s opening, the Lansing Civic Players were told they could not perform the play at Lansing Catholic Central High School - a place it had called home for years. Church officials said they disagreed with the content of the play, and an apparent fund-raiser involving the Michigan’s Triangle Foundation, an equal-rights advocacy group, at a dress rehearsal.

John Rudd, who is Catholic, said that’s when he began to understand the everyday challenges his brother faced being gay.

“When the play received the publicity it did, there were people very close to me asking me to back out of it,” he said. “But when I didn’t, they began calling me gay - I’m not gay, but I am human.

“It was that moment I understood all the pain I have caused my brother for not supporting him.”

David Rudd said it’s been a long time since he has been close with his younger brother - those were tough times for both of them, he said, but he’s happy the play has brought them some understanding.

“Before, it was hard for him to be around me because he didn’t understand me,” David Rudd said. “But now we can communicate with each other and I’m really enjoying that.”

Play director Todd Heywood said he was aware of the problems between the brothers, but also bore witness to the changes in John Rudd.

“John was completely against gays, but after reading the play and being a part of the process, he slightly began to understand,” Heywood said. “ When the diocese would not let us perform the play, their discrimination opened his eyes.

“I am very disappointed the church was not open-minded enough to think something positive could come from this story because something positive did come out of it. Those two guys act like brothers again.”

Officials from the Diocese of Lansing declined comment for this story, but have previously said the play’s content “is not in keeping with the Catholic Church and its teachings.”

“Breaking the Code” tells Turing’s life story, including how it was discovered during a police investigation of a burglary at his home that Turing was gay.

That led to his arrest and conviction on charges of gross indecency. Turing was sentenced to one year of probation and was chemically castrated.

He was also given hormones that resulted in him growing breasts.

Turing, hailed as a war hero, later committed suicide, spurred by the harassment and constant surveillance of the British Secret Service.

David Rudd said the biggest reason for playing Turing’s character is because he’s gay and can relate to the negative treatment the mathematician received.

“Turing was a genius who made a contribution to society,” he said. “But all people focused on was his private life.”

Heywood said the story forces people to reevaluate their own morals and exposes people to the closeted life gay people have had to live.

“The magic of theater is to use creativity and raw expression to show certain sides of life,” Heywood said. “It takes us on a journey that allows us to understand something from a different point of view.”

“Breaking the Code” opens at 8 p.m. Friday at the Hill Center School’s auditorium, 5815 Wise Road in Lansing. The show runs 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $5 for students with ID, $8 for seniors and $10 for the general public.