The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a play by Simon Stephens based on the novel of the same name by Mark Haddon. During its 2012 premiere run, the play tied the record for winning the most Olivier Awards (seven), including Best New Play at the 2013 ceremony (this record was surpassed by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in 2017 with nine wins). The play is a National Theatre Production, in association with Frantic Assembly, who specialised in the movement direction.
The play premiered on 2 August 2012 in the Cottesloe Theatre at the Royal National Theatre in London before transferring to the Apollo Theatre in the West End on 12 March 2013. It won seven Olivier Awards in 2013 (including Best New Play), at the time equaling the record with Matilda the Musical in 2012, before both were surpassed by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in 2017 with nine awards. During a performance on 19 December 2013, the ceiling of the Apollo Theatre collapsed, which forced the production to close. It reopened on 9 July 2014 at the Gielgud Theatre. The play closed at the Gielgud on 3 June 2017.
The Broadway production debuted at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on 5 October 2014 and closed on 4 September 2016. It won the 2015 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, 2015 Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding New Broadway Play, the 2015 Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play, and the 2015 Tony Award for Best Play.
Mickey Rowe was the first openly autistic actor to play Christopher Boone in the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. He documented this experience in the book Fearlessly Different: An Autistic Actor's Journey to Broadway's Biggest Stage.
The story concerns a mystery surrounding the death of a neighbour's dog that is investigated by young Christopher Boone, who is autistic. It explores his relationships with his parents and school mentor. The play reworked the source material by changing its voice and presenting the story as a play-within-a-play. The play has received a generally warm reception, with most critics impressed by its ability to convey the point of view of the young protagonist and the compassion of his school mentor. Critics also generally spoke highly of the visual effects employed during the show.
Characters
Christopher John Francis Boone: the 15-year-old protagonist Mr. Ed Boone: Christopher's father, a boiler engineer. Mrs. Judy Boone: Christopher's mother. Siobhan: Christopher's para-professional and mentor at school. Also acts as the play's narrator. Voice One: The actor in this role also plays: Mrs. Shears: Christopher's neighbour. Mrs. Gascoyne: the head of Christopher's school. Woman on Train Shopkeeper Voice Two: The actor in this role also plays: Roger Shears: Mrs Shear's ex-husband. Mr. Wise: one of Christopher's neighbours. Duty Sergeant Man behind Counter Drunk One Voice Three: The actor in this role also plays: A Policeman Mr. Thompson: one of Christopher's neighbours London Policeman Man with Socks Drunk Two Voice Four: The actor in this role also plays: Reverend Peters: a priest and teacher at Christopher's school. Uncle Terry: Christopher's uncle Station Policeman Station Guard Voice Five: The actor in this role also plays: No. 37 Lady in Street Information Punk Girl Voice Six: The actor in this role also plays: Mrs. Alexander: An old lady, one of Christopher's neighbours. Posh Woman Toby: Christopher's pet rat, usually played by a real rat in a ball.
Plot The play involves a significant reworking of the source material. Rather than present the story in the first-person narrative as the original novel did, the play is presented as a reading of Boone's own writing, read aloud in segments by his teacher. The result is that the play is presented as a play-within-a-play.
Set in Swindon and London, the story concerns 15-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone, a mathematical genius with an autism spectrum disorder, although his condition is never specified in the play. The titular curious incident is the mystery surrounding the death of Wellington, his neighbour Mrs. Shears' poodle, after Christopher finds the dog speared with a garden fork.
While trying to discover who killed Wellington, he encounters resistance from many neighbours, but mostly from his widowed father, Ed. Christopher argues to himself that many rules are made to be broken, so he continues to search for an answer. During his investigation, Christopher happens across letters from his mother, Judy, dated after her alleged death. Ed admits that Judy is alive and living in London with their neighbour with whom she had an affair; he had fabricated the story about her dying from a heart attack two years prior. He also admits that he killed Wellington in a fit of fury after an argument with Mrs. Shears.
Distraught and fearing for his life, Christopher heads to London to find and live with his mother, traveling by himself for the first time in his life. He finds the journey overstimulating and stressful, but eventually succeeds and is welcomed by his mother. His ambitions lead him back to Swindon, where he wants to sit an A Level mathematics exam. Christopher achieves the best possible result and gradually reconciles with his father.
In a short scene after the curtain call, Christopher reappears to brilliantly solve his "favourite question" from the mathematics exam.
Productions CountryTheatreOpening DateClosing DateDetailsRoyal National Theatre, London2 August 201227 October 2012PremiereApollo Theatre, West End12 March 201319 December 2013West End PremiereTeatro de los Insurgentes, Mexico City24 October 20134 January 2015International PremiereBeit Lessin Theater, Tel Aviv2014 Centrál Theatre, Budapest8 March 2014 Hungarian PremiereSetagaya Public Theater, Tokyo4 April 201420 April 2014Japanese PremiereGielgud Theatre, West End9 July 20143 June 2017West End Re-OpeningEthel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway5 October 20144 September 2016Broadway PremiereKwanglim Art Center BBCH Hall, Seoul27 November 201531 January 2016Korean PremiereCitadel Theatre, Edmonton, Alberta22 September 201612 November 2016Canadian PremiereLe Moderne Théâtre, Liège28 April 201713 May 2017Belgian PremierePlayhouse, Arts Centre, Melbourne11 January 201825 February 2018Australian Premiere & TourConcert Hall, QPAC, Brisbane12 June 201824 June 2018Australian TourCanberra Theatre, Canberra27 June 20181 July 2018Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney4 July 201828 July 2018Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre, Adelaide31 July 20184 August 2018His Majesty's Theatre, Perth8 August 201819 August 2018Teatro Marquina, Madrid5 September 2018TBATheatre on the Bay, Cape Town25 September 20183 November 2018South African Premiere & TourPieter Toerien Montecasino Theatre and Studio7 November 20182 December 2018South African TourPiccadilly Theatre, West End29 November 201827 April 2019West End revivalDe Speling, Fakkeltheater Antwerpen6 December 202422 December 2024Flemish Premiere
National Theatre Adapted by Simon Stephens and directed by Marianne Elliott, the show premièred at the Royal National Theatre's Cottesloe Theatre on 2 August 2012. The performance there was played in the round. The production starred Luke Treadaway as Christopher, Niamh Cusack as his inspirational teacher Siobhan, Nicola Walker as his mother Judy, Paul Ritter as his father Ed and Una Stubbs as Mrs. Alexander. The production, which ran until late October 2012, was broadcast live to cinemas worldwide on Thursday 6 September 2012 through the National Theatre Live programme.
West End The show transferred to the West End's Apollo Theatre in March 2013. Performances began on 1 March, with an official opening on 12 March. Seán Gleeson and Holly Aird joined the cast as Christopher's parents.
On 19 December 2013, during a performance, part of the Apollo Theatre's roof collapsed, injuring nearly 80 people. As a result, all further performances were cancelled and a new theatre was sought. The Apollo's balcony required extensive repairs. In February 2014, the producers staged 8 free lunchtime performances for audiences from 14 secondary schools at the Stratford Old Town Hall. The production finally re-opened at the nearby Gielgud Theatre, beginning previews on 24 June 2014, with its official opening night on 9 July.Shenton, Mark. "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Will Move to West End's Gielgud in June; Broadway to Follow" , playbill.com, 8 January 2014
The West End production closed on 3 June 2017, after playing over 1,600 performances.
The production returned to the West End at the Piccadilly Theatre from 29 November 2018 (with an official opening night on 11 December) for a limited run until 27 April 2019.
Broadway The play opened on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on 5 October 2014, after beginning previews on 10 September. It is again produced by the Royal National Theatre and directed by Elliott. The original Broadway cast included Alex Sharp (in his first professional role ever) as Christopher, Enid Graham as his mother Judy, Ian Barford as his father Ed, and Francesca Faridany as Siobhan. The production is choreographed by Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett.
The Broadway production closed on 4 September 2016 after 800 performances.Clement, Olivia. "Broadway Welcomes a New Musical and Says Farewell to a Hamilton Favorite" Playbill, 1 September 2016
UK Tours The first UK and Ireland tour of the production began in December 2014 at the Lowry Theatre in Salford before completing a 32-city tour across the UK and Ireland.
A second UK and Ireland tour began in Salford in January 2017 and ran through to September 2017.
A third UK tour was set to begin in Salford in September 2020 and run until March 2021, with a seven-week run at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre in Wembley, London from November 2020 through to January 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was delayed and began officially at the Troubador Wembley Park Theatre from 20 November 2021 to 9 January 2022 before touring until May 2022.
A new production will open at the Birmingham Rep from September 2026 before embarking on another UK tour. It will be the play's first major production since the original National Theatre production. The cast features Charlie Brooks as Judy, Joe McFadden as Ed, and Alex Keenan as Chris (with Imi Price as Alternate Chris), marking the first time the character has been played by a female performer.
US tour
The first US national tour of the production began on 27 September 2016 at the Auditorium Theatre in Rochester, New York and closed in September 2017 at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, in Costa Mesa, California.
International tour
The National Theatre opened its first international company in Amsterdam on 22 August 2017 with Joshua Jenkins (with Sam Newton and Kaffe Keating as alternatives at certain performances) as Christopher Boone, Julie Hale as Siobhan, Stuart Laing as Ed and Emma Beattie as Judy. Local producers then brought the production to Toronto, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing and Shanghai. Following the success of the Melbourne run, the same production began a national tour of Australia detailed below.
Australian tour The Australian premiere of the play took place at the Playhouse, Arts Centre in Melbourne as part of the first international tour. Following the success of the Melbourne season, the same production was announced to return to Australia on a national tour to the remaining major cities: Brisbane, Canberra, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth. The tour commenced on 12 June 2018 and will conclude on 19 August 2018. This is the original London production, produced by the National Theatre in partnership with Lunchbox Productions.
Mexico