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A review by bexpaxton
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: The Play by Simon Stephens, Mark Haddon
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
brilliant adaptation from the novel. i think i enjoyed it in play format more than the book itself which is a feat. loved all the meta theatre stuff because im a sucker for some 4th wall breaks and the characters (mainly christopher and his father) are soo complex and real and vibrant they just feel like ordinary british people who could easily exist.
honestly, on a first read of the novel the fact mark haddon isnt autistic and doesnt mention autism by name in the book did put a bit of a sour taste in my mouth but as an allistic person i cant really speak to the representation except to say that i did love how human and relatable christopher is but also in 2024 i think we should update this story so that it represents other neurodivergent people who arent just stereotypical white autistic boys who like trains and maths. like yes if you fit into that category that's great but i would like to think we all kind of get that now. as someone surrounded by autistic people who look and act very differently from christopher i would love the role to be more flexible for our changing and evolving idea of what being autistic means. as i understand it, this book was groundbreaking in de-stigmatizing autism in the early 2000s so i would lovee modern theatre productions to use this play as a way to break more ground in terms of what our society classes as autism. theatre (particularly the national theatre) is such a powerful device to represent and spur changing perceptions in our modern society.
since haddon first wrote the book we have made a lot of headway in recognising and understanding neurodiversity and i would honestly just love for this to be reflected in the casting and portrayal of the role.
honestly, on a first read of the novel the fact mark haddon isnt autistic and doesnt mention autism by name in the book did put a bit of a sour taste in my mouth but as an allistic person i cant really speak to the representation except to say that i did love how human and relatable christopher is but also in 2024 i think we should update this story so that it represents other neurodivergent people who arent just stereotypical white autistic boys who like trains and maths. like yes if you fit into that category that's great but i would like to think we all kind of get that now. as someone surrounded by autistic people who look and act very differently from christopher i would love the role to be more flexible for our changing and evolving idea of what being autistic means. as i understand it, this book was groundbreaking in de-stigmatizing autism in the early 2000s so i would lovee modern theatre productions to use this play as a way to break more ground in terms of what our society classes as autism. theatre (particularly the national theatre) is such a powerful device to represent and spur changing perceptions in our modern society.
since haddon first wrote the book we have made a lot of headway in recognising and understanding neurodiversity and i would honestly just love for this to be reflected in the casting and portrayal of the role.