Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – EGTG

Having by and large enjoyed the novel of the same name, I was looking forward to this production and was fortunate enough to be there early enough to obtain a front row seat for this ‘in the round’ production. I say ‘by and large’ as there’s a bit of a problem with one of the central characters. More to follow…

So writes Catherine Coutts for theQR.co.uk…

The in-the-round approach has been well thought out by director Jac Whelbe. As the show begins, the actors sit amongst us and move into the space, moving around so that nobody has their back to an audience member for too long. It also suits the energy of the production and simulates the whirring, constant processing of the main protagonist’s mind.

The setting must also have proved a challenge for Michael Mulligan and Richard Spiers (set managers), but they have used it to its best advantage with a limited series of small, but meaningful props – brought on and offstage by the actors – mainly in black with chalk equations on them. Smaller props are one dimensional – on white card with black designs and letters on them – very reminiscent of the original TV version of Paddington in the 1970s.

Christopher Boone (Iain Goldie) has found his neighbour’s dog dead, with a fork through it. We follow him as he investigates the murder of the poor Wellington. Much has been made elsewhere of ‘who’ Christopher (the main protagonist) is. We know he is a fifteen-year-old boy who lives with his father, Ed – who enters soon after to remonstrate with him about his sleuthing using a fair bit of coarse language. I didn’t count the Fs, but there were a lot of them. This isn’t entirely gratuitous – Christopher’s parents language reflects their frustration – often with their son, but also with the hand life has dealt them – and for others their inability to understand Christopher and communicate meaningfully with him.

The setting must also have proved a challenge for Michael Mulligan and Richard Spiers (set managers), but they have used it to its best advantage…

Christopher is a ‘big’ role – Goldie is on stage almost all of the time and carries the production with aplomb, capturing his character’s mannerisms, anxiety and meltdowns. Christopher’s attempts to unravel the mystery expose dark, heartbreaking secrets and he decides to leave for London together with his pet rat, Toby (puppeteer Ola Olsinova). A special shout out at this point to the ‘tube’ trains – expertly choreographed by Rhona O’Donnell – they really caught the essence of being on the underground.

As you might imagine, the journey is not straightforward and nor is the situation at the destination. He eventually returns to Swindon, working on fulfilling his dreams and rebuilding his relationship with his parents. Paul Arendt and Esther Gilvray give strong performances in these roles, with their characters’ behaviour going past the line of ordinary human beings who make mistakes to something more sadistic and selfish: Christopher’s father tells his vulnerable son that his mother is dead when she isn’t and the same mother makes no effort to see that son for years, merely writing to him

And so to the things which I found difficult, both related to the writing and not this production.

Christopher is a ‘big’ role – Goldie is on stage almost all of the time and carries the production with aplomb, capturing his character’s mannerisms, anxiety and meltdowns.

Firstly, Wellington’s end is found to be down to one of the main players who deliberately killed him. This is the UK – Scotland – land of dog lovers. We are meant to feel empathy with this character – but he’s just killed a dog because he couldn’t get his leg over! Surely some retribution is in called for?

Secondly, the stage version of ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ has adopted a a play-within-a-play device which doesn’t add anything and seems entirely pointless. That said, Jamila Love creates a warm narrator/teacher – the only character who engages with Christopher successfully.

Assembly Roxy has generally good accessibility – more information on their website, however the play itself may not be suitable for those with sensory issues.

It is well worth seeing – an excellent show with great production values and a skilled cast, ably led by Iain Goldie. The National Theatre premiere in 2012 was also staged in the round, and it’s difficult to see how it could have been much better than this production, which is full of heart and speeds through its 120 minutes.