The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-Time

Curious Incident - photo by Brinkhoff MögenburgFollowing its acclaimed sell-out season in Melbourne earlier this year, the National Theatre of Great Britain’s Olivier and Tony Award-winning production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-Time kicks off its Australian tour this week.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-Time tells the story of fifteen-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone He stands besides Mrs Shears’ dead dog, which has been speared with a garden fork, it is seven minutes after midnight and Christopher is under suspicion. He records each fact in a book he is writing to solve the mystery of who killed Wellington.

He has an extraordinary brain, is exceptional at maths, while ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched and distrusts strangers. But his detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a frightening journey that upturns his world.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-Time has been adapted by Olivier Award-winning playwright Simon Stephens from Mark Haddon’s best-selling book, and is directed by Tony Award winner Marianne Elliott (War Horse, Angels in America).

Following a sold-out run at the National Theatre, the production transferred to London’s West End, where it enjoyed sell-out houses.  It is the recipient of a record-breaking seven 2013 Olivier Awards, including Best New Play, Best Director, Best Design, Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design – more Oliviers than any other play in the history of London’s West End at that time.

The play then transferred to Broadway, where it premiered at the Barrymore Theatre in September 2014, winning five Tony Awards including Best Play, six Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Play, five Outer Critics Circle Awards including Outstanding New Broadway Play and the Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-Time was the longest-running play on Broadway in over a decade, and was named among the top 10 productions of 2014 by over 20 leading media outlets, including The New York Times, Associated Press, New York Post, Time Out New York, Playbill and Time Magazine.

The all-British and Irish company for this international tour is Joshua Jenkins (Christopher), who played the role in the first UK tour, Julie Hale (Siobhan), Stuart Laing (Ed), Emma Beattie (Judy), Bruce McGregor (Reverend Peters), Amanda Posener (Mrs Shears), Oliver Boot (Mr Shears), Danielle Kassarate (Punk Girl), Debra Michaels (Mrs Alexander), Matt Wilman (Mr Thompson) with Kaffe Keating playing Christopher at certain performances. The understudies are Kieran Garland, Emma Keele, Joe Rising and Danielle Young.

The production is designed by Olivier and Tony Award-winner Bunny Christie, Tony Award-winning lighting designer Paule Constable and Tony Award-winning video designer Finn Ross. Movement is by Scott Graham and Olivier Award-winning Steven Hoggett for Frantic Assembly, music by Adrian Sutton (who also composed music for War Horse) and sound by Ian Dickinson for Autograph.

Mark Haddon is an author, illustrator and screenwriter who has written fifteen books for children and won two BAFTAs. His bestselling novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-Time was published in 2003 and was the winner of more than 17 literary awards, including prizes in the US, Japan, Holland and Italy, as well as the prestigious Whitbread Book of the Year Award in the UK in 2004. The novel has been translated into 44 languages and sold more than 5.5 million copies world-wide.

Haddon’s poetry collection, The Talking Horse and the Sad Girl and the Village Under the Sea, was published by Picador in 2005, and his last novel, The Red House, was published by Jonathan Cape in 2012. His latest book is The Pier Falls – a collection of stories.

Simon Stephens’ plays for the National Theatre include: a new translation of The Threepenny OperaPort (originally produced at the Royal Exchange and directed by Marianne Elliott) at the National Theatre’s Lyttelton Theatre, Harper Regan (which was produced at Canadian Stage) and On the Shore of the Wide World (co-production with Royal Exchange, Manchester: Olivier Award for Best New Play).

His many other plays include Carmen Disruption, Heisenberg, BirdlandBlindsidedThree Kingdoms, Wastwater, Punk Rock, Seawall, Pornography, Country Music, Christmas and Herons; A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky (co-written with Robert Holman and David Eldridge); an adaptation of Jon Fosse’s I Am the Wind and Motortown.

Stephens’ version of A Doll’s House for the Young Vic transferred to the West End and then New York in 2014. Simon is an Associate at the Lyric, Hammersmith and the Royal Court Theatre. Simon’s book – Simon Stephens, A working Diary was published in 2016.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-Time
Concert Hall – QPAC, Cultural Precinct, South Bank (Brisbane)
Season: 12 – 24 June 2018
Bookings: www.qpac.com.au

Canberra Theatre Centre, London Circuit, Canberra
Season: 27 June – 1 July 2018
Bookings: www.canberratheatrecentre.com.au

Roslyn Packer Theatre, 22 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay (Sydney)
Season: 4 – 28 July 2018
Bookings: www.roslynpackertheatre.com.au

Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre, Corner Port Road and Adam Street, Hindmarsh
Season: 31 July – August 2018
Bookings: www.theaec.net

His Majesty’s Theatre, 825 Hay Street, Perth
Season: 8 – 19 August 2018
Bookings: www.ptt.wa.gov.au

For more information, visit: www.curiousincident.com.au for details.

Image: Joshua Jenkins, Amanda Posener, Matt Wilman and Oliver Boot in The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-Time – photo by Brinkhoff / Mögenburg