The play version of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is based on the best selling novel with the same title by Mark Haddon. The story concerns an autistic 15-year-old named Christopher John Francis Boone. Christopher appears to be a mathematical genius, but he struggles with dealing with people. Christopher hates to be touched. He hates metaphors (which confuse him). Christopher loves Sherlock Holmes and when a dog is killed in his neighborhood, Christopher decides to investigate and solve “the murder.” Christopher’s parents are stressed by their son’s autism. Director Marianne Elliot creates an innovative set which allows the audience to experience second-hand what autism is like. Within these demanding conditions Luke Treadaway, playing Christopher, projects confusion with frustration as he tries to solve the mysteries of his Life. This National Theatre production was broadcast at our local Regal Theater as part of their Fathom Events series. Excellent! GRADE: A
I read and enjoyed the book, perhaps more than I’d expected to, but we never did see the play during its Broadway run. I like those Fathom Events.
Jeff, the last FATHOM event we attended was a Carole King concert which we enjoyed. FATHOM brings a lot of operas to the Regal Theaters.
Having a child who is “on the spectrum” (she has what used to be termed Aspergers Syndrome and is now considered high-functioning autism spectrum disorder), I’m always a little dubious about what my daughter terms “magical aspies”. Much as the sixties tended to romanticize schizophrenia, so I find today’s popular culture tries to make autism a “cool” thing, endowing the autistic person with special insight and powers. I didn’t read the book, but I’m glad this production focuses on the difficulties of a person being baffled by not understanding social cues and not being able to filter/prioritize sensory information. I’m sure it’s a good show, but it’s not for me.
/Dismounting soapbox now.
Deb, before THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, there was a brief interview with a woman with autism that consulted with the Director and the cast to help them understand Christopher’s condition. Showing the perspective of a young man struggling with the confusion around him produces a powerful play.
We did see it on Broadway and liked it very much. Also liked the novel.
Patti, Diane read the novel and liked it. We both thought the presentation of autism both innovative and convincing.
A friend of ours has a son with Asperger’s syndrome and it’s not easy to communicate with him. He lived with his mother and sometimes it seemed that she didn’t realise that there are problems. Very difficult to have a conversation with him, he sometimes seems so detached, even cold …
On the other hand when his father took him to the USA for a holiday, essentially NYC and Washington DC he surprised evrybody by learning the NYC Metro system with all its lines and stops by heart! When the father said something like “let’s go to the XYZ museum (he’s a zoologist prof) near xy station the son said something like this automatically:
OK we take line A from here and change at B to line C – 4 stations and we’re there!
He also knows all races of dogs so when he saw ours for the first time he said: Looks like a Malinois, but with a little bit of German sheperd thrown in – and he was right!
Life isn’t easy for them it seems – but they often have careers in IT, some companies are looking for them even.
Wolf, the character in THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME with autism is a whiz at math. Math plays a role in the play in several ways. You would appreciate the mathematic applications to solve various problems Christopher encounters.