The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Synopsis

Christopher, fifteen years old, stands beside Mrs Shears' dead dog. It has been speared with a garden fork, it is seven minutes after midnight and Christopher is under suspicion. He records each fact in the book he is writing to solve the mystery of who murdered Wellington. I made a decision. I did this by thinking of all the things I could do and deciding whether they were the right decision or not. He has an extraordinary brain, exceptional at maths while ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched and he distrusts strangers. But his detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a frightening journey that upturns his world. My name is Christopher John Francis Boone. I know all the countries of the world and the capital cities. And every prime number up to 7507.

Our Review:

Michael Coveney - 3 August 2012

As adaptations of much-loved fiction go, Simon Stephens' perky and imaginative version of Mark Haddon's cult 2003 novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, cleverly directed by Marianne Elliott, is an instant classic: autistic boy decides to track down killer of neighbour’s dog and finds his mum in the process. It's a grown-up children's story, with swear words.

On the way, there's a lot of stuff about mathematics, but most of that is translated into a brilliant light show, and Luke Treadaway's impersonation of Christopher Boone, the boy who knows all the countries and their capital cities, and all prime numbers up to 7507, is a really touching, probably award-winning, performance.

A lot of the book is about writing one, but Stephens cleverly translates this into a strand of the supportive teacher, wonderfully well playe...

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Latest User Review

David Baxter - 7 September 2012:

The last Mark Hadon adaptation I saw was the appalling Polar Bears at the Donmar so I was a bit cautious about this one, particularly as I seem to be the only person who hasn't read the book. The Cottesloe has long been sold out so an NT Live showing at our local cinema presented an ideal opportunity to sample the experience of how theatre transfers to the wide screen. In this case it is ideally suited: a range of cameras solves the problems of theatre-in-the-round and the Cottesloe is so small that the actors don't have to over-project their voives, gestures or expressions. Bunny Christie's brilliant design is very effective on screen with ceiling mounted cameras, especially the extraordinary sequence in a tube station. Luke Treadaway brilliantly inhabits Christopher and there is an impression of genuine insight into how someone like him sees the world. Paul Ritter and Nicola Walker are equally superb as his parents struggling to cope in their differing and ineffective ways. Unfortunately the satellite signal went down for over ten minutes in the first half which badly compromised understanding and enjoyment of the play. This was an effective merging of the two media but I still have my doubts how it would work for a much larger stage and auditorium....

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