As I mentioned
in my September
Now Playing/ Wishlist, I recently saw The Curious Incident of the Dog in
the Night-Time. And by recently I might mean over a month ago, but WOAH time
needs to slow down. I’ve wanted to see this play since it debuted in the West
End three years ago, as the book features pretty highly in my all-time
favourites and I’ve read it more times than I should probably admit.
Why it’s taken
me three years to see it is a mystery to all of us, but I finally put my foot
down, overruled the student spending tendencies that I still seem to be
clinging onto and bought tickets.
I’m going to
jump right in and talk about the set, because it’s such a significant part of
this production. The stage resembles a box, with screens making up the floor
and three walls, and all four surfaces are marked with gridlines to convey
Christopher’s mathematical mind-set. The screens are employed effectively
throughout, from establishing physical boundaries, to demonstrating Christopher’s
surroundings through his eyes, and mapping out his thought processes. In addition to
the set, props prove an innovative and prominent addition, particularly through
devices such as Christopher’s model train set that he gradually builds throughout
the first act. Both the speed of construction and direction of the track reflect
on Christopher’s emotional stability, adding yet another layer to the atmospheric
intensity which often builds up to breaking point, on at least one character’s
behalf.
The play is
narrated by Siobhan, Christopher’s school mentor, as she reads the book
Christopher has written. At first I was unsure about this set-up, mostly
because it detracts from Christopher’s unique narrative voice, but the more I
thought about it the more it made sense; Christopher doesn’t like talking to
people and struggles to understand emotional expression, meaning there is no realistic
circumstance under which he would vocally narrate his book himself. Furthermore,
Siobhan’s narration allows actor Sion Daniel Young to give his full attention
to a comprehensive portrayal of Christopher’s defensive front.
Although I came
to terms with this narrative set-up, there were still elements of Siobhan’s
character that I didn’t like, but I think this was largely due to the fact
that she didn’t line up with the Siobhan I had conjured in my head from
reading the novel, rather than there being anything wrong with Rebecca
Lacey’s depiction. However, her all-white suit seemed an odd choice, and gave
her an angelic or “deceased narrator” feel. Had the play been entirely from
Christopher’s perspective I could have put this down to some form of
idolisation, but as the top layer of narrative has us believe that this is a
play Christopher has made from his book for a school project, Siobhan’s
appearance is unnecessarily conspicuous.
In fact the
whole concept of the play within a play bothers me. Although it made perfect
logical sense, there was just no reason for it. The production does not benefit
in any way from having this extra narrative layer, and certainly didn’t allow
for any kind of narration, time or space that couldn’t exist without this
frame. If the play was simply a real-time representation of what was happening,
with Siobhan narrating Christopher’s book as he gives it to her to read, it
would be just as, if not more, effective.
In addition to
staging, choreography is another aspect in which this production excels,
presenting really creative and original methods of conveying situations,
places, moods and actions. The electronic-dominated soundtrack is mostly a
powerful atmospheric tool, although it does seem a little too melodic at times,
in a way that doesn’t quite fit with the rest of Christopher’s mind-set.
And I can’t
review this show without mentioning Sion Daniel Young’s amazing performance as
Christopher. His energy throughout the show is remarkable and his intensity
does not falter. What is most impressive, though, is the way in which he
becomes Christopher’s mannerisms, through speech, body language and movement
around the space.
Even being an
avid supporter of Mark Haddon’s novel, I was not disappointed by the stage
adaptation. It’s such an intense and emotional production, with just the right
balance of comic moments, which is extremely well translated from the book. But
at the same time it’s a completely different experience to reading the original
novel. It is refreshing to be presented with emotions of characters that you
don’t get through Christopher’s narration in the book, such as the emotional
strain that Christopher’s behavioural difficulties has on his father. Plus,
characters such as Christopher’s mother, who are relatively flat characters in
the novel, are really brought to life on stage.
I’m a strong
believer in always reading the book first, but this is a production that can be
enjoyed, appreciated and understood whether you’re a fan of the book or not.
Have you read or seen The Curious Incident of the Dog
in the Night-Time? What have you most recently seen at the theatre?
No comments
Post a Comment