Presented by Next Stage Theatre Company
Tuesday 23rd - Saturday 27th January 2024 7:30pm
Matinee Saturday 27th January 2024 2:00pm
Christopher: “Today is a Good Day, so I’ve decided I’m going to try and find out who killed Wellington because a Good Day is a day for projects and Planning things”…
Siobhan: “Well, we’re meant to be writing stories today, so why don’t you write about what happened to Wellington?”
- Act 1, Scene 8
And so the play begins. Simon Stephens’ adaptation of Mark Haddon’s award-winning novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, is a richly theatrical exploration of this touching and bleakly humorous tale.
Teenager Christopher Boone finds his neighbour’s dog Wellington speared to death by a garden fork. Upset at the loss of a favourite animal and under suspicion himself of the crime, Christopher decides to find out who killed Wellington. Encouraged by Siobhan - the teacher at his special school - he records his exploits in a book. Christopher has an extraordinary brain and is exceptional at maths, but he is ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched and he distrusts strangers. In the course of the play Christopher’s detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a frightening journey that turns his world upside-down.
A talented cast of Next Stage actors - headed by Kes Joffe as Christopher – is thrilled to be kick-starting the company’s 30th anniversary year with this powerful production directed in-the-round by Next Stage’s Artistic Director Ann Ellison BEM. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time will showcase and celebrate the high artistic and performance standards for which Next Stage Theatre Company has been celebrated since 1994. Don’t leave it too late to secure your tickets!
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
The Mission Theatre
Tuesday 23rd – Saturday 27th January 2024
Review by Rebecca Beard
As ever, a warm welcome awaited me at The Mission Theatre for Next Stage Theatre Company's latest production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. The stage adaptation by Simon Stephens of Mark Haddon's novel presents many challenges which were enthusiastically embraced by cast and crew.
I enjoy theatre in the round at The Mission and it worked well for this production. The well-disciplined cast ensured that not a word or expression was missed. This is a story about stories, a meta-narrative which requires a more creative approach that a literal box set wouldn't suit. The simple, flexible set of white and red boxes moved by the cast was clearly carefully planned to create everything from doorways to cash dispensers, even an escalator, and their use maintained the fluid nature of the narrative in time and space.
The use of the wooden slats to create the eponymous dog (reminiscent of a constellation or a scene-of-crime outline) hinted at their use for the physical creation of Christopher's mathematical proof at the end and book-ended the show neatly. These slats were also used to make train tracks and mark the limits of Christopher's world. Props were minimal, mostly imagined, and the few actual props selected with care and specific intent. The costume theme having everyone in black was clever, both defining character and blending in simultaneously. Judicious use of sound effects made the performance akin to a radio play, and there was effective use of lighting with colour and strobe to evoke scene changes. All these directorial choices enabled the audience to fill in the visual gaps in a subtle way, leaving more space to explore characterisation and the story arc.
Those taking a single role were well cast. Doubling for the supporting roles was excellent and I enjoyed the individual performances as well as the interactions and reactions. The crowd scenes were handled very effectively to build the sensory overload of Christopher's experiences. I don't usually like to single out individual performances but credit must go to Kes Joffe for his outstanding portrayal of Christopher. I hesitate to use the phrase unreliable narrator because Christopher's autism makes him a very truthful but limited storyteller, so we have to read between the lines for him. There were great interactions between cast members reinforcing the emotions and knowledge that Christopher fails to grasp. Paradoxically, his character is both swept along by and also the driver of events, and his well-judged delivery of the character sustained this throughout.
Ann Ellison's direction has given us theatre with the workings out in the margins visible. The play makes us feel that in the right hands the banality of our messy own lives is worthy of a piece of theatre and that our petty lives could become elevated to the heights of dramatic experiences. This production is the marriage of a great piece of drama, creatively staged, and performed by a talented cast.
Do make time to catch this wonderful production I cannot urge you to see it strongly enough.
Bath Voice Theatre Review:
A committed performance by Kes Joffe as Christopher, in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at The Mission Theatre, reminding us all to listen to those who are different.
Review by Harry Mottram
Nobody apart from Christopher’s teacher Siobhan, nobody listens to him. His dad lies, his mother can’t cope with him, the police misunderstand him and Mrs Shears shouts at him. Set in the 1990s before mobile phones and the internet were standard props The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has a curiously dated feel with its references to adult top shelf magazines, Georgette Heyer novels and society’s indifference to those considered to be ‘on the spectrum.’Stepping into the role of the protagonist Christopher Boone, Kes Joffe gave a committed and believable performance as the boy with high functioning autism who is determined to find the killer of Wellington, his neighbour Mrs Shear’s pet dog. His melt-downs, his confusion with adults who speak in idioms, his frustration with officialdom and his inability to understand the motivations of his parents were sensitively handled by this talented young actor. It was an outstanding performance.
He was ably supported by Sam Fynn as Ed – Christopher’s doing-his-best-but-not-quite-good-enough dad – who looked and sounded the part of a plumber who could repair overflowing toilets with ease. And Christopher’s mother Judy, played by Antonia White was suitably unprepared and unable to care for her son – although she comes good eventually. It was Christopher’s parents’ failed relationship and the reason for its breakdown which lay at the heart of this adaptation of Mark Haddon’s 2003 novel by playwright Simon Stephens that Christopher’s dog murder investigations uncovers – revealing the dual narratives of the smash hit book.
Framed as a play within a play, unlike the novel written in the first person, the story had a second narrative with Christopher’s teacher Siobhan (played by an excellent Tania Lyons) as she reads his ‘book’ – and whose calm and reasoned voice helped to sooth him and educate him in how to deal with his emotions and the world around him. Thank goodness for professional mentors and teachers.
An ensemble supporting cast moved coloured boxes and lightweight planks into various configurations to represent trains, homes, streets, gardens and rooms in director Ann Ellison’s thoughtful production.
Jane Lawson as angry Mrs Shears doubled up a an even angrier shopkeeper, while Christine Anderson delighted as kindly (and one of the few understanding adults) as Mrs Alexandra, and Andrew Ellison as not-very-understanding-adulterer Roger added support with various minor roles. Jonathan Taft enjoyed himself in several parts including the Duty Sergeant and the Ticket Seller while Joshua Tenn made a very good impression as a more-tea-type-of-vicar who dodges difficult questions. Claire Rumball as Mrs Gascoyne and Ethan James as an unhelpful policeman added to Christopher’s confusing world in which adults simply don’t get him – as to him they seem rather dense.
The Mission Theatre is known for its unusual space as a former chapel but Kris Nuttall’s lighting and Hayley Fitton-Cook’s operation did much to create different moods and locations from an underground train in London to a garden – all helped by the sound created by Toby Lewis Atwell and Alexa Garner – although those who are affected by flickering lights should be aware there are sequences of flashing lights. Music played by Philip Glass was both evocative and an emotional background to Christopher’s uncertain journey.
The set design combined with the structured movements of the cast did however convey the black and white mindset of Christopher as he struggles to understand the workaday world of 1990s Swindon and London and his imperfect parents. A creative and unusual production enhanced by strong performances – especially from Kes Joffe who brought Simon Stephens’ adaptation of Mark Haddon’s mystery novel’s protagonist and mathematics genius to life.
Rehearsal Images
