(Rated 7/5 )
Absolutely
thrilled and delighted to give the National Theatre’s production of The Curious
Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time my top mark! I am sure Christopher,
the hero of the piece, would query giving a better than perfect score, but I
would then tell him it’s like an A*, but with an extra-special additional star
added to that! 5=A, 6=A* and 7=A** J.
I read Mark
Haddon’s book many years ago and absolutely loved it. Definitely one of my all
time favourite novels. According to popular marketing of the novel, Christopher
John Francis Boone has Asperger’s syndrome. I would say this is probably the
closest it’s possible to get to ‘easily’ labelling him so that people can have
some idea as to what to expect of him. However, I completely agree with Mark
Haddon in his article in the theatre programme for this production – labelling
people and putting them into boxes comes no way near to describing who and how
they are and, in many cases, is completely unhelpful. Within all our
peculiarities and syndromes, we are all individual, and on a kind of continuous
scale of ‘abnormality’ – which of us is in fact normal?! It simply does not
exist!
Christopher has
difficulty reading and understanding other people’s emotions – his empathy is
highly limited. He also struggles to allow people close to him physically –
hugs are a nightmare and should be avoided – his way of coming close to
someone, as shown in the play, is to slowly bring hands together, but at the
point of touching, Christopher will withdraw. He loves and becomes absorbed my
mathematical problems. He is very good indeed at proofs of theorems – there is
a safety and security for him in the world of maths, in which you can prove
things 100%. The outside world, or even the world in his own home, does not
provide that safety, because nothing can be proved – it’s all a great, big
confusion of people and their odd behaviours.
This becomes
even more of a problem when he faced with a murder mystery to solve. Who killed
Mrs. Shears’ dog, Wellington, with a garden fork? In the process of solving
this mystery, Christopher goes detecting and also solves a much greater mystery
of his own family and faces many of his demons along the way…
Luke Treadaway,
who played the lead in the NT’s Warhorse also, continues to show his
exceptional talent in performance as Christopher. This is a virtuoso study of a
character, in which he uses voice as well as body language to take us along with
him in understanding Christopher. We adore him! The poetry and movement of his
internal world are delightful and so moving. We both fully get how hard it is
for Christopher to appreciate the feelings and roller-coaster emotions of other
humans with whom he has to deal, and also understand them and ourselves better
in exploring with him. The beauty of his fantasies of being an astronaut comes
across in a dance of lights, images and computer graphics, in which props, as
well as fellow cast members are used to lift him aloft and help him fly
weightlessly. The staging is complete brilliance, the biggest supporting role
in exhibiting the fascinating workings of Christopher’s mind. Very well done to
designer; Bunny Christie, lighting designer; Paule Constable, video designer;
Finn Ross and movement directors; Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett. And of
course also sound designer; Ian Dickinson, music maestro; Adrian Sutton, voice
coach; Jeanette Nelson and fight director; Kate Waters. This is definitely an
ensemble piece. And an ensemble stage also, which opens up at various points to
reveal all sorts of secrets, devices and treasures, and on which Christopher
builds a train set – which later comes to life, and draws the faces Siobhan
teaches him to interpret people’s feelings. All parts of performance and
staging contribute in equal measure in showing us who and how Christopher is
and how his world and our world operate and come into conflict… and maybe harmony.
Niamh Cusack
plays his teacher, Siobhan. Totally and utterly wonderful! As much as we adore Luke
as Christopher, we love Niamh’s Siobhan too. She is so much more than his
teacher. Through her narration of some parts of Christopher’s story, as well as
voicing him in parts like a counsellor would with a client, we experience the intense
empathy and support she gives Christopher. It also emphasizes his own voice at
times when he is maybe struggling to express himself. She is so gentle and yet
so strong. There are also some highly humorous moments when she tells us and
Christopher what another character has said, and then they say it themselves in
their own way; playing with similarity and contrast.
Luke’s father
is played by Paul Ritter and mother by Nicola Walker - both very good indeed. Father,
Ed is portrayed as hesitant yet honest when he feels appropriate and we feel
his dilemma in trying to do the best practically for his son, whilst holding
big secrets from him in attempts to save him – these have catastrophic consequences.
This is a man who silently contains his emotions or in crisis lets them out
with his fists or by seeking emotional consolation and rescuing from women. He
shows us how hard it can be for men in our society, who are expected to be
strong and brave and practical and show the stiff upper lip. It’s a huge load! Mother
Judy also shows us how difficult it can be to be a fully-functioning feeling
mother to a child who cannot appreciate and understand that. This will be
poignant for any mother, any parent who truly cares for their child. Her story,
disappointment in life and quest for an ideal, are a catalyst for events, yet whilst
we may blame her for a while, we certainly do not condemn. How can we? The
writing of Mark Haddon, adaptation by Simon Stephens, production and
performances make us understand all the issues involved in a way that makes us
truly interested and sympathetic to all involved. This story is rich in issues!
Mark Haddon is a genius and I was pleased that so much of the original text was
kept in the adaptation.
Other
characters, voices, props etc are played by Una Stubbs, Sophie Duval, Nick
Sidi, Matthew Barker, Rhiannon Harper-Rafferty and Howard Ward. They act as
witnesses to Christopher by sitting on the sides of the stage and simply
observing… and then support and empathy by being the characters with who he interacts as well as literally supporting
him in his journey. Ingeniously done and all really great! I’d also like to
give a shout out to Toby, the rat, who put up with being swung around during
Christopher’s hectic travels.
It is Siobhan
who suggests Christopher convert the book of investigations into the ‘curious
incident’ into a play, and that she and others will help him. And that is
exactly what happens, with the book and play constantly referred to and
included in the action. Fellow actors step into characters as required, with
Christopher commenting on their suitability to take on the roles at times. And
when he wants to explain a mathematical proof to the audience – which may delay
the action, but which were of course included in Mark Haddon’s book – Siobhan suggests
he does so in an appendix after the curtain call, which he does to perfection,
with the glorious help of the full technological wizardry of graphics and
stage.
Christopher
recites the prime numbers in order when he feels frightened or uncomfortable. In
essence, they are his best friends. When we came into the auditorium to take
out seats, for a moment I thought my seat wouldn’t be next to my companion’s.
There was a seat covered in white and with the number “173” on it. An envelope
told me I was sitting in a prime seat! We wondered if that meant I was going to
be called on to take part in the show. For that reason I withheld from opening
my envelope. At the interval I realised in prime seats had opened theirs and so
I did. Inside was more information on the number “173” and a little exercise to
see if I was special. You add up the numbers associated with the letters on
your name – A=1, B=2 etc. to 26 – and if they make a prime number, you win a
prize. We tried various combinations of both out names, short and long forms,
with and without middle names, and it turned out that I’m not special, but my
companion is! We won a badge showing one of the faces Siobhan draws Christopher
to help him understand people’s expressions. It's a smiley face as with eyebrows over the eyes as so... \ and /...
Let me know if you know what it
means?! J
For me the
second half lost a little. For a while I couldn’t work out what it was… and
then I realised… we lost Christopher’s voice and expressiveness under the
external pressure of the world around him and his retreat inside himself,
leaving others to tell the story. Very powerful drama to lose him and for him
to then return even stronger.
I have been to
The Cottesloe before, but it was unrecognisable to me in the way it was
transformed. Not quite as small as The Donmar, but still retaining a great
sense of intimacy and connection between performers and audience. It is
accessed from outside the main NT building, a little way along from the Stage
Door. It’s my favourite of the NT theatres and easier for those with walking
disabilities trying to get to their seats, of which there were a fair few of us
that evening!
I highly
recommend this production!
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the
Night-Time – Review by
TheRestrictedReviewer © 2012
Twitter: @RestrictReview
