Eliza Collings, Joshua Jenkins, Gemma Knight Jones and Craig Stein in Curious Incident – Photo Brinkhoff / Mögenburg
Performance Date: 07 February 2019 (Matinee)
Venue: Piccadilly Theatre – London
The National Theatre’s remarkable and hugely popular production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time made a triumphant London return back in November 2018. Taking up residence in the Piccadilly Theatre, the production is back for a limited run until April 2019.
The novel by Mark Haddon, published in 2003 is hugely successful in it’s own right. Winner of a plethora of worldwide literary awards it has been translated into 44 languages selling in excess of 5.5 million copies.
The plot centres around 15 year old maths prodigy Christopher Boone who discovers his neighbours dog, Wellington dead, impaled through the stomach by a garden fork. Christopher, who is on the autism spectrum (although is never labelled as such) becomes transfixed with identifying Wellington’s killer. Using his gift for deduction, Christopher’s detecting uncovers further mysteries and exposes some monumentus lies told by his father, Curious Incident follows Christopher as he struggles to deal with the ramifications of what he has unearthed and his struggle to process them.
Adapted for stage by Simon Stephens Curious Incident has been wildly successful. The play premiered at the Royal National Theatre in August 2012, and thanks to an unprecedented demand for tickets, a transfer to West End and the Apollo Theatre followed in 2013. The production befell an unfortunate accident in December 2013 where the roof of the Apollo Theatre collapsed causing performances to be cancelled and the play being subsequently relocated to the Gielgud Theatre on 24 June.
The production enjoyed a Broadway transfer in October 2014, where it opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre to rave reviews, closing two years later. In addition to huge success in the West End and on Broadway, the production has enjoyed several national and international tours where it delighted audiences in Australia, Canada and Hong Kong, to name but a few.
The production has received incredible critical acclaim. During it’s maiden year in London, the play scooped seven Olivier Awards, including the coveted Best New Play honour. Across the pond the production picked up the five Tony Awards including Best Play in 2015.
Whilst the novel is narrated by Christopher himself, the stage play cleverly utilises the character of teacher Siobhan, played by Julie Hale to facilitate the flow of the narrative. The cast is relatively small with protagonist Christopher at the centre of the play. His parents played by Stuart Laing and Emma Beattie make up the quartet of main characters with the fringe characters being played by a startlingly accomplished ensemble which includes Lynette Clark, Eliza Collings, Lucas Hare, Sean McKenzie and Craig Stein.
Alternate Sam Newton steps into the role of Christopher and is astonishing in his interpretation. He performs the role with utter conviction, recoiling at anyone’s touch and unravelling swiftly and painfully at times. One can only imagine how challenging a role like this is to take on but Newton is awe-inspiring. Christopher is a quintessential anti-hero is unceremoniously blunt and highly literal, he is not particularly endearing but through Newton’s portrayal it is impossible not to empathise with and root for him.
Christopher’s parents are predictably at odds, not only with each other but with their own acceptance of their son. It is hard to empathise with them as despite Christopher’s insistence that he does not want to be touched, something he reaffirms regularly throughout the play, both parents are regularly beaten by their frustration ultimately leading to Christopher unravelling regularly. Both Laing and Beattie are assured in their roles fully conveying their helplessness and ineptitude at every turn.
Where this production truly excels is the movement and staging. Major kudos has to go to award winning set designer Bunny Christie whose giant maths grid staging single-handedly transports the audience in to Christopher’s mind. Lighting Designer, Paul Constable, Sound Designer, Ian Dickenson and Video Designer, Finn Ross combine to create complete sensory depravation.
Haddon’s novel is now a staple in the GCSE curriculum and is now subject to much deeper and wider analysis. Indeed, several hundred keen students packed themselves into the Piccadilly Theatre to watch the novel that they have so closely studied come to life on the stage.
Ultimately through, the play’s strength centres around the journey into Christopher’s solitary world which is at times overwhelming not just for him, but the audience too. Christopher’s solace is his solitude and it is heart-breaking to watch him try to navigate a world that doesn’t understand or accommodate him. Curious Incident is a stark lesson in empathy which concludes with a newly resurgent Christopher telling his teacher Siobhan, just as the lights go down, that he can do anything.
