The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Review

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, performed at Piccadilly Theatre, is based off the bestselling novel written by Mark Haddon, now being performed in the style of Frantic Assembly, telling the story of a 15-year-old autistic boy: Christopher Boone, who investigates into the mysterious killing of his neighbour’s dog: Wellington.

I found the staging and set very interesting; the stage was set out like a graph, symbolising Christopher’s logic and intelligence, conveying a feeling of disruption from other people. A proscenium arch divided the minimalistic set from the audience, which were seated in-the-round, raked. This allowed for all audience members to see the movement on stage and perhaps see different perspectives, feeling part of the story. The whole set was minimalistic; draws and cupboards were hidden in the walls which stored props, and there were white cubes which would be used as bags, chairs, a TV, a microwave and even a fish tank! I found it very intriguing how the audience had to stretch their imagination to see the play how the director had envisioned it. The non-naturalistic set had a modern feel to it through the use of projections to symbolise houses and even used when Christopher wrote in chalk on the floor; being projected onto the back wall. Another interesting aspect of the staging was when there was a scene at a train station and part of the stage dropped down, revealing train tracks.

The use of lighting throughout the performance truly mesmerised me. There were three bright flashes at the beginning, showing Christopher in three different positions beside the dog, throwing the audience straight into the action and storyline. A really clever factor was using torches as lighting; aiming them at the audience, breaking the fourth wall. They particularly did this in secretive scenes such as Christopher investigating Ed’s room. The lighting was flashing, turning, hectic and strobe to display the impact on Christopher’s fragile mind. When Christopher was following a pathway, they lit it up on the ground with flashing lights which I found was interesting. But I think my favourite aspect of the lighting was the fact that they used a full colour spectrum of LED lights to mark out rooms, pathways and symbolise the stars.

The movement in the style of Frantic Assembly was probably my favourite part of the whole performance. Frantic are a theatre company who use non-naturalistic movements to convey their story and yet are still able to entice their audience which is what I love so much about them. There was a large use of ensemble, lifting Christopher to make it seem like he’s flying in space and even using a puppet for his pet rat which was really lovely as you find yourself not even concentrating on the ensemble and just believing that Christopher and his rat are flying in space. An element of comedy was added to the performance when Christopher was waiting for his neighbour to come to the door and she was walking in slow motion whilst everyone else on stage used quick, rapid movements as if they were on fast forward. I liked the idea of the fast and precise movements throughout the performance symbolising Christopher’s chaotic mind, conveying that it is always working at one-hundred miles per hour.

Now, the performance wouldn’t be as brilliant without the characterisation that the actors all achieved impressively. The use of multi-rolling from the ensemble and interaction between the characters truly adds to the performance. Furthermore, the fact that Christopher didn’t like or want any physical contact or he would scream made the audience sympathise for him and it made it obvious Christopher was autistic. His autism is further demonstrated by him curling up and shaking and groaning when he gets upset or stressed and the fact he struggles to communicate his personal feelings pushes our sympathising emotions his way so Joshua Jenkins, hands down to you for polishing up your physicality of the character so well.

But what’s a character without a costume? The costumes used were all realistic, contrasting from the performance, and they represented each of the characters how Christopher sees them. Christopher wore a NASA shirt, representing his interest in space, along with tracksuit bottoms to symbolise comfort, and a blue hoodie, symbolising his innocence. Something I found very interesting that others might not have realised is that Mr Sheers, a man who Christopher doesn’t really like, was wearing yellow and brown; the two colours Christopher despises, symbolising his hatred towards him.

And what’s a performance without sound? A range of sound effects were used such as the train track and fish tank, enticing us as an audience. Exaggerated and loud sounds were often used to convey Christopher’s agitation and panic. Christopher often spoke rather quickly, representing his intelligence as he can get so much information out in a short amount of time. Contrasting from this, Siobhan’s voice was often calm and slow, showing her care for Christopher.

The thing I love most about Curious Incident is the fact that it can be interpreted in completely different ways and yet, it still gets the storyline across perfectly. A definite recommendation of mine!