The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime (November 2018)

Hi friends,

Unless you have been living under a theatre rock, you will know that the world-renowned and award-winning play “The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime,” which has been amazing audiences since 2012 has finally made its South African debut and has been on at the Pieter Torien theatre at Montecasino. The cast which was led by the astounding Kai Brummer, featured 9 other South African talents: Kate Normington, Genna Galloway, Lesoko Seabe, Clayton Evertson, Jenny Stead, Ashley Dowds, Dylan Edy, Nicholas Ellenbogen, and Liz Szymczak. Each cast member made an impact and together brought the story to life in the most phenomenal way.

The play which takes place in Swinden, England follows the story of a boy who has an extraordinary brain, is exceptional at math and yet struggles to interpret everyday life. After he is caught in the middle of a ‘murder scene,’ he makes it his mission to solve the crime and in doing so, stumbles upon a number of life-altering surprises. Due to circumstances that Christopher finds himself in, he travels to London and soon realises that he can, actually, accomplish anything he puts his mind to despite the challenges he faces every single day.

I had only heard good things about the production both here and overseas, however, I was not completely sure what to expect. A story about an autistic boy who 1) tries to solve a murder mystery and 2) travels to London on his own while having never ventured outside his comfort zone before seemed… odd at best. If I could put this journey into context for you – the train ride from Swinden to Central London is about 2 hours and having just done the journey myself, I can say first hand that this adventure is not for the light-hearted. Taking a train in London is chaotic, busy, noisy and tiring to say the least and for people who do not move at this pace every day, it can be scary sometimes. This is why I completely appreciated the effort that the play goes to, to showcase this adventure and how well it is portrayed through the eyes of Christopher. Needless to say, this part of the show was my favourite.

There were so many moments of this show that blew me away from the staging to the accuracy of which autism was portrayed. After watching the show, I came away feeling as if I had gone on an emotional roller coaster- I needed a yoga class to calm my senses down and couldn’t help but wonder how the cast debriefed after such a demanding performance each night. Both physically and mentally, the cast gave this show everything they had to offer and it was both a joy and a privilege to be a part of it.

What was so special to watch was that the show took the perspective of Christopher’s mind, however, the reality of how autism affects the people around you was shown so truthfully. Having a member of family who suffers from such disorders can be a challenge and takes a toll on the people around that person. Yes, Christopher had a lot of challenges to overcome however his parents and carer are human too and sometimes get angry, upset and scared- something that can often be overlooked. Watching these instances be played out on stage and worked through was just as fascinating to me as watching Christopher make his huge journey from Swinden to central London- Paddington station to be exact.

The audience that night was primarily made up of students and although I thought that this was a wonderful outing for a drama department I couldn’t help but feel that a lot of the depth to the story flew over their heads. The production is not suited to a simply a fun night out at the theatre. Rather it showcases issues that people live with every day and how sometimes those issues cause terrible pain and suffering. Nevertheless, I found the whole production to be very poignant and the story to be one that simply needs to be told, over and over and over again. We can always learn something from the productions we watch and we should always look to learn more about humanity, empathy and friendship along the way.

“And I know I can do this because I went to London on my own and because I solved the mystery…and I was brave and I wrote a book and that means I can do anything.”

*lights out*

xxx

Natalia