‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’ review
‘witty, creative and emotive. I would highly recommend this to anyone seeking to watch student theatre this week.’
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time explores the journey of Christopher, a fifteen-year-old maths whizz, as he investigates the murder of his neighbour's dog. Utilising a quirky, humorous style, this play explores both Christopher’s tumultuous family life, and experiences as an autistic person, something which can be difficult to do sensitively whilst retaining the witty, offbeat feel of the production. Matthias Bacon (assisted by Linus Cheung and Louis Rutman) manages this very well, creating overall a very entertaining yet emotive rendition of the show.
Bacon’s directing is very well thought through. He utilises the relatively small ensemble in conjunction with the minimalistic set (well designed by Gemma Parker) to transform the stage into a variety of locations throughout the performance, ranging from a classroom to the London underground. Gemma Parker’s creative use of lighting also helps with this as she helps further create locations using sleek, ‘futuristic’ projections, entirely in keeping with the show's general aesthetic. Bacon leads the ensemble very well in this regard, as well as in creating a variety of characters for Christopher to interact with through his journey, ranging from concerned passers-by on the tube (well played by Mags Wong and EJ Nazareth) and exasperated police officers (done well by Ella Burnley and Caspar Chatham). This multi-rolling is well done, however, I would have potentially liked to have seen bigger and more diverse characters drawn out by Bacon to make the show feel even more dynamic.
Nonetheless, the acting in this show is superb. Moritz Afridi as Christopher is fantastic. His use of physicality is outstanding as he perfectly embodies Christopher, using subtle gestures, like avoidance of eye contact and bodily tension to convey his emotions to the audience. Christopher is a difficult role to play sensitively, and Afridi manages this very well; he grasps Christopher’s emotional flatness without becoming robotic, allowing us to see Christopher’s passion and humour.
Another standout performer is Paloma Hoyos. Her Siobhan is wonderfully warm and caring. She captures perfectly how much of a soothing presence Siobhan is to Christopher, depicting their close relationship perfectly. In contrast to this, Emma Henderson encapsulates very well the boldness and erratic nature of Judy, Christopher’s mum. Her range is fantastic as she demonstrates Judy’s playfulness, as well as her anger, and sadness. Her stage presence is fantastic throughout, as she presents a complex character towards whom the audience feels both sympathy and anger. Her scenes with Benedict Porter as Ed are particularly good. The two believably create the relationship of two people who love, but have hurt each other deeply, capturing both petty squabbling and genuine anger with each other perfectly. Porter’s take on the character Ed is very interesting. He skilfully deals with both Ed’s loving and flawed sides, to create a complex character who is very enjoyable to watch. His attempts to connect with his son as very well done, feeling genuinely emotionally raw and heart-breaking.
As mentioned earlier, the ensemble is fantastic. All members commit well to the many roles they are given, though I feel more energy could have been utilised in group ensemble scenes. Special mention should be given to Elizabeth Sykes, whose portrayal of Mrs Alexander is wonderfully funny, as she hits all the comedic beats within her scenes. Her ability also to capture Mrs Alexander’s age through her physicality is very impressive. Another performer who utilises physicality well is Ella Burnley. Her creation of both the exasperated police officer and Reverend Peters through her exaggerated physicality and facial expressions is witty and very well done.
Whilst previously mentioned, it feels vital to discuss the work of the tech team again within this production. The tech is phenomenal. From Ellie Hutty’s (assisted by Harry Fines) innovative use of soundbites of the cast to create the claustrophobic overwhelming feeling of London, to Parker’s (assisted by Julia Malcolm) use of non-diegetic lighting to perfectly express Christopher’s emotions, the use of production elements within this show is original and perfectly in keeping with the rest of the creative vision. Congratulations must also go to Hamish Campbell, Lydia Miller and Eva Ryan for their oversight of this complex show, both with its technical elements, and creative use of ensemble.
Overall, this production is very well done. It is clear that everyone involved has put an incredible amount into creating this show and that reflects very much whilst watching. It manages to be witty, creative and emotive. I would highly recommend this to anyone seeking to watch student theatre this week.
By Olivia Brown.