Theatre Preview: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

The National Theatre’s highly acclaimed production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time makes a welcome return to the Nottingham Theatre Royal from 4-15 April 2017. It played to packed houses on its first visit to the town.

The cast includes Scott Reid (currently appearing in BBC1’s comedy Still Game) in the central role of Christopher Boone, with Lucianne McEvoy as his teacher Siobhan, Emma Beattie as Judy, David Michaels as his father Ed, Debra Michaels as Mrs Alexander and Eliza Collings as Mrs Shears.

The company is completed by Oliver Boot (Roger Shears), Crystal Condie (No.37/Punk Girl/Information), Emma-Jane Goodwin (ensemble), Joel Harper-Jackson (Mr Thompson), Bruce McGregor (Reverend Peters), Sam Newton (alternate Christopher), James Parkes (ensemble), Jams Thomas (ensemble) and Danielle Young (ensemble).

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is adapted from Mark Haddon’s best-selling book by Simon Stephens and directed by Marianne Elliott. The production is designed by Bunny Christie, with lighting by Paule Constable, video design by Finn Ross, movement by Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett for Frantic Assembly, music by Adrian Sutton and sound by Ian Dickinson for Autograph. The Associate Director is Elle While.

National Theatre producer Kash Bennett said: ‘We were overwhelmed by the enthusiastic reception from audiences around the UK and Ireland when we toured The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in 2014-15, playing to almost 400,000 people, and are delighted to take this beautiful and inventive show to new venues and make a return visit to others in 2017.’

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time received seven Olivier Awards in 2013, including Best New Play, Best Director, Best Design, Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design and five Tony Awards on Broadway including Best Play.

Whilst on this extensive tour, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time will simultaneously continue its run at the Gielgud Theatre in London’s West End and is on its first tour of the United States.

The show tells the story of Christopher Boone, who is fifteen years old. He stands beside 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 murdered Wellington. He has an extraordinary brain, and 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.

Marianne Elliott was an Associate Director of the National Theatre where her productions have included: Husbands and Sons (at the NT’s Dorfman Theatre and the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester), War Horse (co-directed with Tom Morris and touring the UK from September 2017), The Light Princess, Port, Season’s Greetings, All’s Well that Ends Well, Harper Regan, Saint Joan (Olivier Award for Best Revival, South Bank Show Award for Theatre), and Pillars of the Community (Evening Standard Award for Best Director). Marianne was consultant director on The Elephantom for the National Theatre and also directed Sweet Bird of Youth for The Old Vic with Kim Cattrall. Marianne’s next show for the National Theatre is a much anticipated new production of Angels in America which includes: Nathan Lane, Denise Gough, Andrew Garfield, and Russell Tovey. Marianne recently formed a new company with Chris Harper called Elliott Harper Productions.

Mark Haddon is an author, illustrator and screenwriter who has written fifteen books for children and won two BAFTAs. His best-selling novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, was published simultaneously by Jonathan Cape and David Fickling in 2003. It won seventeen literary prizes, including the Whitbread Award. His 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. He lives in Oxford.

Simon Stephens’ other plays for the National Theatre include: The Threepenny Opera, Port (originally produced at the Royal Exchange and directed by Marianne Elliott) at the National Theatre’s Lyttelton Theatre, Harper Regan 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, Birdland, Blindsided, Three 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. His 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.

Theatre Royal Nottingham
Tuesday 4 – Saturday 15 April 2017
Week 1: Tue – Sat 7.30pm, Wed & Thu matinee 2pm, Sat matinee 2.30pm
Week 2: Mon – Sat 7.30pm, Wed matinee 2pm, Sat matinee 2.30pm
Tickets £16.50 – £33.50 plus discounts for Members*, Under16s, Groups, Go Card holders**
www.trch.co.uk
Box Office: 0115 989 5555