The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at National Theatre

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at National Theatre

03 August, 2012
by: Naima Khan

A great translation of a book to the stage but one that disappointingly lessens the challenges of the original. 

One of the reasons Mark Haddon's book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, was so deserved of its success is that it presented us not just with new content, something fresh and broad to question and chew on but it presented us with an unfamiliar format. It dropped us into the mind of Christopher Boone whose difficulties understanding other people and empathising with them indicates he has a form of Asperger's syndrome. The way he comprehends the world around him, particularly the event of finding a dog's corpse in his neighbour's garden, makes his voice  unique and hooking. I can imagine irritating the heck out of him by asking a hundred questions just to hear his take on things. 

But in this stage version adapted by Simon Stephens, we're presented with a combined book-reading and meta-theatrical staging of Christopher's take on the dog's murder and his quest to find the killer. He's written down a diary of his investigation which his teacher Siobahn, played by a golden, smiley, Mary Poppins-like Niamh Cusack, happily reads out, mesmerised by every word. To me, her enthusiasm jars with Luke Treadaway's excellent matter-of-fact portrayal of a character so defined by his love of logic and his distance from emotional interaction. Why is this character so prominent? Why not get Christopher to read his own writing?

Cusack's character is in part, a reflection of the audience, those of us who watch Christopher with affection and fascination. She is, like me, marvelling at him but I don't know if this take on the central character needs to be so central in this play. There are other characters, like his neighbour played by the alluring Una Stubbs, who show the same curiosity and kindness towards him. But what's more interesting about their interaction with him is Christopher's response. He regards them the same way he'd regard me (I imagine).  They are not a safe space for him like Siobahn's overused classroom. 

However, in getting Christopher to stage his book, she facilitates a clever move that allows the creative team to hold up their hands acknowledging that they're trying to go by the text but it's difficult and they're never going to please everyone anyway. In these moments we are back with the book where Christopher directs our attention where he likes and with Marianne Elliot's direction and Bunny Christie's design we're taken one giant leap further thanks to a few coups de théâtre highlighting, among other things, his delight at model trains and the perils of real ones. 

This is a sensitively made solid production with superb performances all round, especially from Nicola Walker as Christopher's frustrated absentee mother making her way back into his complex life; and Paul Ritter, frightened and fiercely protective of his son. The curtain fell to rapturous applause (from myself included) but I wonder if passing Christopher's voice into Siobahn's hands hasn't compromised the challenges this play should pose. 


The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time runs at Cottesloe Theatre until October 27th

Image: Luke Treadaway by Manuel Harlan




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Naima Khan