REVIEW: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
People's Theatre cracks it
There are all sorts of reasons, on the face of it, why Mark Haddon’s wonderful, bestselling novel shouldn’t have been obvious theatre material.
That title would be the least of them (Lloyd Webber surely had marketing in mind when he came up with Cats).
The story, though beautiful, is largely cerebral. Most of the time we’re in the head of protagonist Christopher Boone, seeing the world as he sees it.
Nothing screams ‘song-and-dance number’. There’s a lot of maths (perhaps I’m biased – never could master the subject) and since Christopher – although it’s never stated – is on the autism spectrum, poetry and metaphors are akin to lies.
To cap it all, there’s a dead dog centre stage in the opening scene with a garden fork stuck in it.
About a decade ago I sat in a rehearsal room at the National Theatre and watched as the cast and director of the first production, an adaptation by Simon Stephens, showed why there’s no such word as ‘impossible’ in theatre – just challenges to be overcome.
The National smashed it with a worldwide hit, a telling of the tale which brought a lump to my throat both times I saw it.
This week I was confounded again – and deeply impressed at how an amateur company (albeit the accomplished People’s) have delivered the Stephens adaptation so faithfully and effectively.
Young Christopher, kneeling beside the body of Wellington, neighbour Mrs Shears’ late dog, is the initial suspect but he says he didn’t do it and Christopher literally can’t lie.
Deciding to crack the mystery of who killed Wellington, he stumbles on a mystery even closer to home which his mind, open to evidence but not suspicion, is even more ill equipped to solve.
In Zachary Douglas, director Sam Burrell has found the perfect Christopher, a young actor able to convey every nuanced look and gesture of this delicately drawn character.
Even the frizzy hair seems right – and in a winning performance he misses neither beat nor word (no mean feat, especially in the enthralling postscript which often eluded West End audiences scrambling for the exits).
Christopher lives with his dad who tells him his mother is dead (Judy, embodied by Sara Jo Harrison, will return like the Biblical Lazarus, though with more panache). Not given to displays of grief, the boy instead asks pertinent medical questions.
Dad Ed, neither parent being a flawless role model, finds love for his son tempered by exasperation, which Sean Burnside conveys beautifully.
Christopher confides in patient teacher Siobhan (Alison Carr) about his actions and intentions, although perhaps ‘confide’ isn’t the right word since he’ll tell anyone the truth if they ask.
He exists, this clear-eyed if literal-minded 15-year-old, in a world of obfuscation where adults hide behind meaningless language and catch only shadowy glimpses of reality.
When he sets off to London to find his mum, equipped with a postcode and his pet rat, the clash of outlooks is comical but you’ll root for Christopher every time.
The set builders have done an amazing job, seeming to have doubled the size of the stage. Every surface is scrawled with algebraic equations, mimicking Christopher’s mindset, and it’s a masterclass in what can be done with a few white boxes.
No choreographer is credited but there’s lots of movement and the ensemble cast appears to have been well drilled.
The ingredients all come together in a moving and thoroughly entertaining show.
Don’t just take my word for it. In the auditorium on opening night there was that intangible sense of an audience deeply engaged and hanging on every word.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is at the People’s Theatre until Saturday, June 13. Tickets from the box office.