Clever, eloquent and inventive, National Theatre‘s The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time awed QPAC’s Concert Hall on Tuesday 12 June.
Fifteen year old Christopher Boone (Joshua Jenkins) has a brilliant mind, with an impeccable understanding of how everything works – everything, except human emotion. When he becomes a suspect for killing his next door neighbour’s dog, Christopher puts his detective work to good use to find out what really happened, despite constant pleas from his father (Stuart Laing) to put the case to rest. With the help of teacher Siobhan (Julie Hale) Christopher uncovers more than he bargained for as he navigates the complicated world of human interaction.
A cast as foreign as the National Theatre, the performance is flawless. A show usually set in an arena setting morphs well to the confines of the Concert Hall, with an interactive stage and clever use of sound and lighting immersing audiences in the story line. We were taken on the journey with Christopher, seeing the jumble of lights and muddle of words that engulf his sight, hearing every buzz, crash and hum within ear’s range and feeling the overwhelming pull of enigmatic fervour that rules his daily life.
It is a show that will have you seeing the world as an entirely different place, questioning what we really see at every twist and turn. Audiences are made to see the trivial things that are taken for granted – like the innate ability to focus on a train timetable amidst flashing lights, pushing crowds and deafening noise in one of the world’s busiest train stations. There are realisations of the everyday – like how water all across the world is really connected, and how water evaporated from the Mexican Gulf can be falling outside your bedroom window – and realisations far larger.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time will give you more goose bumps than a below zero winter’s day in London. You will want to stay sitting in your chair, contemplating the world around you, even when the lights have risen – and you should, you may be pleasantly surprised.
Readers also enjoyed this review of Expressions Dance Company’s 4Seasons.
