The Curious incident of the dog in Night Time

What do you do when you see a dead dog on stage, skewered by a garden fork? Well, you get an inquisitive teenager and a group of actors to investigate and reveal the story.

This is what happened at the Queen Mother Theatre in Hitchin this past week and if you didn’t come you missed a treat. The stage was set for a tale of discovery, of travel and home truths and the audience seeing the world through Christopher’s eyes. This show truly allowed the audience to do this as the play took place on a seemingly bare stage, the story told not only by Christopher but also through his written words narrated by his teacher Siobhan.

The seemingly empty stage had numerous various sized small doors dotted about the set which opened as required to disgorge props, be it a Swiss army knife, a jacket, food for a pet rat, or amazingly a set of steps that literally dropped out of the back wall enabling Christopher to escape to the safety of his bedroom. Christopher also had the pleasure of assembling a railway that ran across the lower front of the stage. Good use was made of lighting effects in illuminated cubes which doubled as seats, and light pillars. With a folding table/desk and the bed platform this was all the ‘furniture’ required, good use was made of the whole stage, and this was enhanced by a well-planned lighting plot spotting or illuminating the stage as required. Projection from all cast was good and easily overcame any background sound effects and music. Talking of projection there was good use of audio-visual effects which were shown to great effect on the back wall of the set.

There was a talented ensemble listed merely as Voices One to Six, be they police, passengers, neighbours, shop keepers, head mistress, vicar etc. and very cleverly used in the sequence of space travel. Nice cameos from Peter Matthews, Claudia O’Connell, Alison Hancock, Matt Gray, Stuart Goaman and Amanda Campbell-Philips. Excellent movement as Christopher moved across the stage and great confidence as he launched himself through the air, imaginative direction and planning. There were good performances by both Charlotte McKinney and Gareth Martin as mother and father Judy and Ed Boone, the raising and lowering of tempers and emotions clearly conveyed in both word and action. Claire Adams as schoolteacher Siobhan was excellent casting, a kindly, sympathetic nature with a core of steel coming across as she narrated Christophers story from his journal.

 

It is true to say that the talent displayed by the young star of this show, 16-year-old James Dowell as Christopher John Francis Boone was outstanding. James caught every nuance of his character, the reactions of an autistic lad afraid of human interaction, the keening of despair (verb: to make a loud, long, sad sound), the hurt, the look of bewilderment on his face, the frustrations laid bare, his interactions with all about him, the occasional genuine smiles of delight on his face and the way his movement and facial expressions caught every moment, his attention to dialogue around him, his own command of his script. The representation of a genuinely autistic youngster, you deserved your standing ovation, and I am glad I got the chance to congratulate you on your performance. The stillness of the audience as they listened to you throughout was a tribute to your talent, even if they did go aah when Rocky was presented to you.

Keith Swainston and Katie Milward, you should be so proud of your vision and direction of this show. I am sorry that Scott was in hospital and not able to see this show, but in a way, I am not sorry because I would not have seen this treat.

Leslie Judd

Rep for Region 4N on behalf of Scott Welch

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