The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

 TNT

After a deservedly sell-out run in the National Theatre’s smallest space, Simon Stephens’ clever adaptation of Mark Haddon’s award-winning book makes a gratifying transfer to the West End.

Luke Treadaway reprises his knock-out portrayal of Christopher Boone, the 15-year-old boy with Asperger’s syndrome who sets out to discover who killed his neighbour’s dog with a garden fork. Though incapable of lying, unfalteringly literal, and freaked out by human contact (a cautious, slow motion variation on a “high five” is all he can cope with, even with his distraught parents), Christopher is highly logical and very persistent - traits, which take him on a path of unsettling discovery when he turns detective against his father’s wishes.

Within Bunny Christie’s cube of a design, Frantic Assembly’s choreographed movement and flashing video projections recreate the sensory overload which assails the terrified boy as he makes the journey (solo, apart from his pet rat) from the comparative calm of Swindon to the bustle of London.

And Marianne Elliott’s sympathetic production manages to get right inside Christopher’s head, with Treadaway – restless, fidgety, with a mass of quirky behavioural problems - both infuriating and sympathetic as the troubled teenager who finds comfort in the predictable order of mathematics and the undemanding company of animals.

Apollo theare Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 7ES
Tube | Piccadilly Circus
Currently extended until 4th January, 2014
£12.00- £57.50curiousonstage.com