The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night Time

It was great to be back at the Memorial Hall for the latest offering from RATS: the Welsh Amateur Premiere of  ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night Time’. The play follows the story of 15 year old Christopher, a gifted mathematician with some behavioural issues as he navigates his way through a tricky period in his life.

The staging for this play was very clever.  The traditional flat fronted stage had been extended with a runway type platform that brought the performers into the audience.  I liked this change and it really gave a sense of closeness between the audience and performers. This was also complimented by excellent audio-visual work and projections. There’s no doubt that more and more societies are using projections in lieu of scenery and the ones on display here were excellent.

The small cast were very well drilled.  Many played multiple roles which they did well with different accents and/or different costumes, whilst remaining on stage for the vast majority of the performance.  Every single person added something to the production and reacted appropriately to whatever was happening within the main action on stage without pulling focus.  Well done and congratulations on excellent, hard-working performances from Leanne Algeo, Anthony Cannon-Jones, Tony Allan, Carole Fletcher and Luke Dean.

As Judy, Helen Harries gave a lovely performance as the mother of Christopher.  She was soft when she needed to be and stronger when required.  Really great to watch.

Jason Excell was a tower of strength as Christopher’s father, Ed.  Jason gave an excellent performance.  Going from anguish to anger and right back again.  We witnessed a range of emotions from Jason throughout the production and I believed and felt every one of them with him.  Lovely work!

As Siobhan, Bethan Griffiths did a brilliant job.  She acted as a crossover between the audience and the performers whilst delivering her character at all times.  She worked well with all the cast and helped to keep the production moving along at a good pace.  Well done.

Without doubt, the performance of the night was delivered by Steven Smith, as Christopher.  I don’t know how old Steven is, but I’d say he’s a tad more than 15, however you completely believed he was a teenager with behavioural difficulties.  From the minute he entered the stage until the minute he left it, Steven did not stop. Everything about his performance was magnificent, from mannerisms and ticks to line delivery, this was a truly outstanding performance.  Congratulations.

Before I arrived, I knew nothing about this production and I’ll be honest, that’s how I like it.  It allows me to have no preconceived ideas of the production and how I think it should be played.  I’m very glad I got to see this particular production and it is one I hope to see again in the future. 

My congratulations go to director Tracey Coleman and her tremendously hard-working cast on delivering an excellent night of theatre.  Thank you RATS for your welcome and I look forward to seeing you all soon.

THE VIEWS IN THIS REPORT ARE SOLELY OF THE AUTHOR.

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