The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at The Lowry, Salford

Last night I had one of the most moving experiences of my life… At the theatre. Attending the press night of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at The Lowry, Salford, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. I knew the play was adapted from Mark Haddon’s best-selling book by Simon Stephens, following the journey of an autistic teenager as he goes on the journey to solve the mystery of who murdered his neighbour’s dog. What I didn’t comprehend was just how much this would move me.

Whilst the play does not have hugely complicated set changes or a massive cast, what it accomplishes so well is it’s ability to play on your imagination to fill in the gaps – which just makes it seem even more powerful. The story is told through a select cast led by the central role of Scott Reid (currently appearing in BBC1’s comedy Still Game) as Christopher, all whilst in a confined box. Aesthetically, the production is incredible and the technology used perfectly represents the intelligence and complex thoughts of those in the same situation.

I spent the whole of the first half of the play totally open mouthed throughout – there were moments of humour, sadness, but I was mostly intrigued by how much of an insight I gained into other people’s lives. It is truly thought provoking and produced in such a clever, beautiful way that even the most simplest of set variants were totally powerful and gained intense silence and quick gasps of air from the audience. For the second half, I spent most of the viewing time in silent tears (perhaps helped along by the couple of glasses of wine I had in the press area during the interval) but mostly due to the sheer emotive nature of the play. Not just tears of sadness, I might add, but also happiness and relief. I can’t explain it. It was just moving.

I feel I can’t do the play justice by trying to explain how much I was moved, but if there’s one thing you do this month, I urge you to visit the The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time at The Lowry, Salford. The play is running from Sat 21 Jan – Sat 4 Feb 2017 with tickets from £18.50, and if you do get chance to see it, you will see that despite our backgrounds, and social circumstances, and varying intelligence, we aren’t all that different, after all, really.