The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, National Theatre, The Lowry, Manchester, 18th December 2014 – 10th January 2015.
It isn’t often that you can say that the stage itself stole the show during a theatre production, but in the case of The National Theatre’s adaptation of Mark Haddon’s Curious Incident you could certainly make an argument for it. With a light show to rival a Prodigy gig and high-tech wizardry that would put some blockbuster films to shame, it was the stage that really brought this play to life. The protagonist Christopher (Joshua Jenkins) used it as his own personal chalkboard, sketching out his feelings and fears in the form of a variety of emoticons, while at the same time using the stage to build a train track that would represent his own journey through the play. It was also the stage that best represented the symptoms of Christopher’s Asperger’s Syndrome. In moments when he succumbed to his fears the lights would flash and the prime numbers he was so obsessed with would flicker across the floors and walls. And in a scene where he tries to make his own way through London, the stage is used in a way so unique and innovative that it is difficult to imagine any other way this story could have been portrayed.
Because, if you didn’t already know, the play is adapted from a pretty unique and original book. As it was a bestseller and multi-award winner there’s probably little need to sum up the plot here, but in case any of you did miss it here’s a little overview: Christopher finds his neighbour’s dog Wellington dead in its garden, a pitch fork sticking out of its side. He decides to find out who the killer is. But as his investigation develops he uncovers more than he bargained for, finding out some disturbing truths about his dad (played by Kieran Garland in the play) and his ‘dead’ mother (Gina Isaac). His detective work also causes rifts in his community and eventually forces him to flee to London. These are the best scenes in the adaptation, as the early part of the second act leads us through the darkest section of the story. But without giving too much away, it’s safe to say that the final third will stick with audiences for its redemptive and tender moments.
For that reason, it’s important to point out that the stage is not the only thing worthy of praise here. Simon Stephens has done a wonderful job of adapting Haddon’s novel to the stage, using some interesting techniques to plot this multi-layered tale. Frantic Assembly, who return to The Lowry after their fantastic version of Othello last year, choreograph the play to perfection. The movements of the characters, from the chaotic sequences on the London underground to the simple act of Christopher walking through the house and taking off his coat, all work to displays the mechanisms of the main character’s syndrome. At times, the mesmerising production really makes you feel as if you’re in the head of a fifteen-year-old boy with Asperger’s. And that can’t be easy to do.
Then, of course, we come to the actors. There are almost no negatives to mention, and everyone deserves recognition, but it is hard to look past the brilliance with which Jenkins portrays the lead role. It can be very difficult to accurately represent somebody with a condition such as Asperger’s. There is the risk of making it seem cartoonish, stereotypical, or even offensive. But Jenkins gets it right. From the hand movements, to the pauses in speech and the way he moves, to the darker elements of violence and confusion, it is always believable and it always hits its target. Credit must go to Haddon and Stephens for this, but many other actors may have still fallen short.
We often see books that have been called un-filmable or unadaptable bought to the stage and screen, and often that prediction proves correct. Sometimes they are okay, but just fall short of the excellence of the original. Sometimes they’re just plain awful (the film version of The Road, anyone?). But on rare occasions they succeed. This was certainly one of those occasions. With the combination of the staging, the choreography, the writing, and the acting, you could even argue that this version was more successful than the book out of which it was born.
Fran Slater