The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time

This Play holds a special place in my heart so for this reason I was both excited and apprehensive to see Theatre at Baddow’s production. As the mother of a teenage son with Autism the central character and his daily struggles is one that resonates hugely with me.

The original novel by Mark Saddon is, in theory, a mystery novel. However, playright Simon Stephens’ adaptation for the stage focuses more on the behaviour of people rather than “whodunnit”. In fact, I could argue that finding out who did the crime is unimportant for the audience, it’s the reactions and responses from the characters in the play that create the story.

Our story revolves around 15 year old Christopher Boone. While there is no mention of Christopher having ASD in the dialogue, we find out that he attends a “special” school, has a talent for Maths and can name every Country and its Capital in the World. His goal is to take his Maths A Level where he will get an A*. To look at Christopher does not appear any different to the next person, it is his communication and thought processes that make him stand out from the crowd and here is where the power in the play truly lies. I was intrigued to see how this role would or even if it could be cast as it requires an Actor that looks young enough for the role but has the emotional capacity and maturity to do it justice. I needn’t have worried as Silas Powell gave a portrayal that was understanding, sympathetic and remarkably accurate. I regularly felt the familiarity of emotions I personally go through every day watching Silas’s performance. He captured the more stereotypical physical traits often associated with Autism perfectly, from hand flapping to rocking and covering his ear but without over doing them. However, it was his dialogue delivery that really impacted the audience. To create emotion while delivering almost monotone dialogue steeped in facts, numbers and thought processes that gradually become more jumbled is no mean feat, escalating until Christopher reaches the need to self-regulate and become still and then start the process all over again….I cannot applaud this Actor enough and would like to personally say thank you for reminding me how difficult it must be for a neuro divergent person to tackle what seems to be the simplest of tasks to a neuro typical person every day.

Christophers parents Judy (Katherine Tokley) and Ed (Kieran Lowe) both also did wonderful jobs and beautifully represented the heart ache attached to being the parent of a neuro diverse child. What I really appreciated here was how they were able to clearly portray the differences in how they manage, react to and even support their son. Their reactions to their son being uncomfortable with physical contact from either of them was heartbreaking. In their own ways both Parents at times doubt their son’s ability – Ed champions his decision to take the Maths A level and will do whatever he can to make sure it happens – but does not think his son can navigate the outside world. Judy has in effect walked away from Christopher because she finds his behaviour too difficult to cope with and does not initially see his goals as achievable. However, despite their different parenting styles what really shone through was the love they both have for Christopher and that actually it’s ok for parents to feel these emotions. Truly heartfelt performances from both Actors that had me in tears.

Supporting Christopher in his endeavours Jennifer Burchett as Siobhan, his school Mentor, had probably one of the most challenging roles. Siobhan is so pivotal to the audience’s understanding of Christopher as she also frequently relays his thought processes, often under his dialogue or cleverly timed around it. She excellently showed the importance of communication needed between teacher and student and the need for clear boundaries to ensure Christopher is reminded of her role and does not confuse it with that of his mother. Jennifer engaged incredibly well with the audience without actually addressing them directly, an extremely difficult thing to do. Another excellent performance.

With a similar duty to aid the audience in their understanding was Abigail Hunt as the narrator. Abigail’s task here was more physical rather than verbal. My guest and I both described her as the “puppet master” of the piece. Setting each scene and guiding us to where our attention should be within the staging. Exceptionally clever and I shall go into this in more detail…I loved her facial expressions and noted that her reactions and feelings where those of the particular Actor she was referring to during each scene.

I would love to mention everyone on stage but sadly just do not have the room and there is still much to say! But as always with TABS the entire Cast were incredibly strong, playing multiple roles displaying varied characters and with attention to detail such as using different accents to portray different personalities, regions and stereotypes. Everyone should be congratulated on superb performances.

So, here is where this report gets a little more difficult to write. Not in a negative way, just different…but then difference is what the play is all about really! The set - there wasn’t one, props – very few, costumes – a few t-shirt changes, sound and lighting – minimal. Some might argue this isn’t enough, but for me it was perfect. Set in the round with just a few multifunctional black boxes on the stage that could be stood or sat on, the audience were immersed fully in the play. The timing to make this work had to be impeccable and it was. Being set in the round the action had to be subtly and cleverly manoeuvred to ensure the audience could see every Player at all times (this is where Abigail’s input was crucial to its success). It also left no room for error. Any mistakes would have been glaringly obvious as we as an audience were almost like ensemble members being pretty much on the stage ourselves. The actual raised stage in the hall was used a couple of times to great effect, particularly in the underground scene where Christopher jumps on to the track to rescue his pet rat. The simplicity of the staging was a risk by Director Joanna Gent that paid off enormously. It allowed us as an audience to really take in the complexities of the characters without unnecessary distraction. Lighting was subtle, with flickers of black outs to create scene changes. At times there were moments of red lighting used particularly during some of Christophers lengthier dialogue which I assume was chosen as there is reference to red being his favourite colour. My only suggestion here would have been to use more blue lighting, particularly in Christophers moments of frustration and then self-regulation as blue is known universally as the colour for Autism. But this is a tiny observation and in no way a criticism, just something I personally would have included. Sound was perfect, everyone could be clearly heard and the use of background noise to create the feeling of being in a school or on a train was balanced well. We were also treated to some beautiful singing by the entire cast (I believe an original score by Matthew Jones) which could be heard clearly from the raised stage. Finally, the black boxes were used at the end of the play to superb effect when each cast member came on to the stage to stand on or by them to explain to the audience how Christopher was able to answer the Maths question in his A Level paper. A lovely moment of light relief to end what had been a thought provoking and emotional piece of Drama.

A huge thank you to every single person involved in this production. I laughed, I cried and two days later I am still thinking about this wonderful piece of theatre. Thank you for tackling this subject with such understanding, it was a privilege to watch.

 

 Victoria Carey

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.