Update : 10 August 2012
The National Theatre unveiled its new website in early August 2012 and it looks beautiful. The good news is, as part of this revamp, you can now select your own seats for this play, which also means that you can now see a seating plan for the Cottesloe! The bad news is, only very limited seats remain avaiable, so hurry and book now!
Update : 7 September 2012
Baz Bamigboye of the Daily Mail has news of a possible transfer or extension of the play in another venue. His entry in the Daily Mail dated 6 September 2012 read :
The National Theatre’s in discussions with West End venues about transferring Marianne Elliott’s production of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time.
The show, based on Mark Haddon’s novel, is enjoying a sold-out run at the NT’s Cottesloe Theatre.
However, there’s concern the design and special effects may not fit comfortably into a regular West End house.
Perhaps the NT should investigate, long-term, whether it could buy, or better still, build, a theatre in the heart of the commercial West End so they could move projects back and forth as they saw fit. That would certainly set off culture wars in theatreland. Non-profit theatres in New York have done it…
Update : 2 October 2012
The National Theatre has released a “Making Of” video for this play :
Both the Marianne Elliot and Una Stubbs platforms which was held at the NT in August and October 2012 respectively are also available as an iTunes Podcast. Go to this NT Page and sign up for the NT Podcast service. They both made interesting comments about the production of this play.
Update : 27 October 2012
The NT has finally confirmed on its website that they are in the process of finalising plans for the play to be transferred to the West End come March 2013. Stay tuned for more details, including any changes in casting for the transfer.
Update : 29 October 2012
This play has received three nominations (for Best Play, Best Director, Best Actor – Luke Treadaway and Best Design) in the long list for the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2012. Pity Nicola didn’t make the list for Best Actress. You can see the complete long list HERE.
Update : 1 November 2012
Its official, the National Theatre announced today that the play will be transferred to the Apollo Theatre in London’s West End from 1 March 2013 until 25 March 2013. Previews run from 1 March 2013 till 11 March 2013, with press night on 12 March 2013. The play officially opens on 13 March 2013. Various other sources have also carried this announcement, such as Whats on Stage, Official London Stage and the Stage.
Whilst the fantastic Luke Treadaway will lead the cast at the Apollo, he will only appear in shows from Wednesdays to Saturdays of each week. There will be another actor who will play Christopher on Mondays and Tuesdays during the West End run.
Also, there are three glaring omissions in the cast list named for the West End transfer : Una Stubbs, Paul Ritter and Nicola. It is unclear whether this is because each of these three has yet to sign a contract for the new set of dates, or whether they are affected by the dreaded “scheduling conflict” bug, i.e. they have other filming commitments for the period in question. We await further casting news from the National Theatre.
Update : 23 November 2012
The webpage for this play at the Apollo Theatre is now up. You can go to it via this link. Paul Ritter has already joined the cast of some other play during the Curious Dog Incident’s West End run. It doesn’t look like Nicola will be joining the West End cast either.
Awards and Nominations
Luke Treadaway and many members of the production team, as well as the entire acting ensemble, have made the 2013 Whats on Stage Awards shortlist. You can access and vote on the shortlist HERE. The Team ended up winning only one award, Best New Play.
The play has earned the most number of nominations in the 2013 Olivier Awards, bagging nominations in 8 categories. The Team ended up winning 7 out of 8 awards, including Best Supporting Actress in a Play for Nicola. Go to this Page for our coverage of the 2013 Olivier Awards.
Celebrity Sightings
The following celebrities have been seen at performances of this play (in no particular order) :
Brendan Coyle | Lesley Sharp | Andrew Woodhead | Herminone Norris | Esther Rantzen | Tamzin Outhwaite and Tom Ellis | Simon Russell Beale | Emma Kennedy | Sue Perkins | Dame Helen Mirren | Benedict Cumberbatch | Josh Bolt | Julian Simpson | Julia McKenzie | Dawn French | Clive Anderson | Rupert Penry Jones | Richard Harrington | Harriet Walter
Did we miss any one? Email us if you have seen, or know of, other celebrity attendances at this play. Thanks! (These sightings were made by fans in good faith. Apologies to any celebrity whose name may be incorrctly included in this list.)
Six degrees
Sinead Cusack, a cast member, was also in A Lie of the Mind [Stage] with Nicola back in 2001.
Marianne Elliot, the director of this play, previously directed Nicola in Season’s Greetings [Stage].
Paul Ritter, a cast member, was also in Cloud Nine [Stage] with Nicola.
Nicholas Sidi, a cast member, was also in Spooks episode 903 as well as in Tales of Vienna Woods [Stgae]. Incidentally, Marianne Elliot is married to Nicholas Sidi. 🙂
Una Stubbs, a cast member, has the same agent as Nicola, Ms. Rebecca Blond.
Read the Book
Order from Amazon UK
There is a special edition of the book to accompany the National Theatre’s production of this play.
Order from Amazon US
For some fan reviews of this play, go to the next page.
To my fellow Virginian, you capture all the essentials. It is a play and book for everyone. I too have seen all you describe in the classroom and it is appropriate love, not violence that makes connections with the students. They can learn and interact with general education peers given the chance unfortunately too often that doesn’t happen. I’m proud my school promotes as much interaction as possible. The R word rarely used. I’ve had to calm students when upset. Sometimes they want to make me feel better if I say I’m having a bad day. Sometimes it’s to see how much they’ve learned to interact. I love teaching Special Education. To me they try the hardest to do their best. Families struggle, divorce happens. You have captured it all in your review and don’t give up working with special education students. Good teachers, aides and paras are needed. These are the students who need the best. Re Sandy, I’d forgotten the dog’s name and can see the appropriateness of it and how it would bring such a laugh. Stay safe, I’m in the Mnts. but in the wedge where we’re only getting a bit of wind and light snow.
[Ed : this comment refers to Beatrice’s review of the NT Live screening in Washington DC.
Dee wrote a Close Encounters report for us which you can read HERE.]
Dee,
Thank you for your kind remarks. I admire special ed teachers who are so dedicated to their students. It can often be hard for them to deal with the children’s meltdowns (over the years I have met quite a few teachers who were bitten or hit by their students), but it is also a very rewarding profession. As you noted, special needs children are compassionate and surprise their teachers by their creativity and unusual skills. I enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time very much. The play did not shield the audience from the realities of the autism spectrum and the actors were fabulous in this very emotional play. I just have to convince my husband to see a live performance of the play, if the same cast is transferred to the West End next March.
I hope that you are not snowed in. We were lucky in Northern Virginia. I would have been very disappointed if the NT live performance had been cancelled.
I braved the storm and was there. I did tell a few people sitting near me to wait to watch Luke solve the math question. Yes the biggest laugh was ‘Sandy’. I found myself laughing at times when I understood the ‘You have to live in England to get this joke’ and being either among the few or only one chuckling.
[Ed : this comment refers to Beatrice’s review of the NT Live screening in Washington DC.]
Excellent review capturing the emotion of the evening. Although I only saw it twice I wish I could have seen the NT Live but maybe another play at another time. Anyway, the review was spot on and meeting Nicola Walker is a fabulous experience.
[Ed : This comment refers to Emily’s report on the final performance of the play at the Cottesloe on 27.10.2012.]
Lucy,
Thank you for your interesting comments. What a timely report! I just worked today in a class with severe autistic children who were nonverbal and who like Christopher became violent out of frustration. However, I am always impressed by the way most of those children can attentively watch plays or concerts performed by the other students of their schools. It is also very touching to see the vibrant and spontaneous reactions of the children to the plays. Surprisingly, they often behave better than their regular classmates.
You have to admire the National Theatre for organizing a relaxed performance, which I hope will be the first of many. I was a bit concerned by the length of the play, but the NT wisely allowed sensory overwhelmed spectators to come and go.
I hope that Nicola gets her wish for her sake and that of her fans.
Dear Editor,
Mr. Grumpy failed not only to notice the irony of his remarks in the context of a play about “autism” but also to realize that he was insulting the fans of one of the main actors of The Curious Incident. Unlike Mr. Grumpy, the NT is so open-minded that it does not hesitate to take the risk to offer the joy of theatre to a special audience.
I saw the film version of this play in Christchurch and have not been able to stop thinking about it since! The acting was absolutely fantastic and I wish I could have seen the play live at the National Theatre. However, the National Theatre Live is a wonderful thing as it transports audience around the world into their magnificent productions. Will be on the lookout for more!
Interesting to read those articles in the NZ and Perth newspapers, it brings home the global reach of NT Live! I wonder which half of the split Luke Treadaway was in during rehearsals – those who hated or loved maths!
Any one whose been to the show care to (a) write a review of the play for us and/or (b) share your photo with Nicola and let us put it up on the We Met Nicola! wall? Please send your contributions to us via Email.
I would love to write a review for the play that I pretty much haven’t stopped thinking about since watching it, and I wish I had read your post a day earlier Editor, but I’m away for the next two weeks, gutted!
I’m yet to actually meet NW as yet, so can’t help there either… Booo!!
There’s no time limit on submitting fan reviews. Any time you’re ready, George, just email your comments through. 😀
I’m going to see the play on the 24th of October which will be nearly the end but I can’t wait to see Nicola Walker in real, not in front of a tv screen! Promise, I’ll try to post a review even if I guess a lot of other fans will have done it by then! I don’t know if there are other French fans on this site but I’m sure I’m not the only one!
All contributions, long or short, submitted at any time, will be gratefully received. 😀
Excellent in every respect. Nicola is brilliant as always. The production is genius.
Anyone going to see the play is in for a real treat.
Really enjoyed the play, and great to see such positive press reviews – I read the one in the London Evening Standard on the train home and had a flashback to the play when 2 policemen suddenly appeared in my carriage… no sign of Christopher though!
I enjoyed the interviews with Marianne Elliot and Simon Stephens, both gave interesting insights on how the play’s taking shape. Also found this interview with Simon Stephens on what it’s like seeing one of his plays performed. Not long to go now!
Have my ticket for Aug 23 evening, can’t wait to see play, will have to take 5 days off work, although just had 10 wks off for summer break, but it seems rare that Nicola Walker does a summer play, so didn’t want to miss golden opportunity. Of course I really want to see the play given that I made my Brit Lit students read it last year. Interesting how things come together. Loved book, admire NW, and both now together in one venue. Adaptation of book should be interesting. I think I am grieving loss of Spooks, but recognize difference between roles and actors, and in that picture she looks so tiny. Would love to be her size. Oddly enough not as excited about Peter Firth new roles, guess I’m fickle.
This is nothing to do with the play but wasn’t sure where else to post it!
I wonder if Nicola was amongst the people on the NT balconies yesterday to see the River Pageant – she must have had a great view if so as Joey the horse seemed to capture the attention of the whole royal party eliciting a few waves!
Wish I’d been there, if only the Jubilee and Olympics had fallen on different years!
Also, just seen that Time Out Theatre’s included The Curious Incident at No. 6 in its list of 10 top theatre shows in London this season – so this play definitely seems to be going places!
Well, look at that? There is a Santa Claus! Thank for the NT Live info. My wish came true! Although it is not listed on their webpage yet. Do you have any indication of what the actual transmission date will be? Sometimes there is a bit of a lag but usually not much of one for my venue. The NT Live page ends with Timon if Athens on 1 Nov.
No details yet re actual transmission dates but will post here as soon as we know. Wish the NT would put these NT Live events on DVD for sale …
Good idea. I’d buy several of them. However, I have no idea what the distribution or copyright the legalities might be.
You can download plays from Digital Theatre to keep and watch on your computer. Surely its only a matter of time before the NT is able to hammer out similar deals with its own productions for some kind of a download service. The NT Live events are great, but there are still a whole lot of countries who do not currently participate in this programme. Even for those countries with participating cinemas, the show times are quite limited. Still, I’m soooo super excited for Nicola that she’s been cast in this wonderful project!
As a point of note, I just phoned the NT box office as I’ve been allocated a ticket on Level 2 next to one of the ‘pillars’ as marked on the Theatremonkey seating plan – only to be assured there are no pillars in the Cottesloe (phew!) So one less thing to worry about!
How frustrating….!
I have ‘Advance Membership’ for the NT, every other play except for this one has its advance ticket sales open!! Come on NT, let me buy some tickets….!
Tickets…… Done!!
Well done you!
Just looked at the play’s page on the NT site and see you were right about casting, Nicola’s to play Christopher’s mother. I wonder how they’ll adapt it for stage, since if they follow the book chronologically she’ll only feature in the latter stages (except maybe for flashbacks). Perhaps those are other details they haven’t finalised yet!
Part of the charm of the book is that it takes you inside Christopher’s head and shows you his version of the world. Obviously the play can’t be just a monologue by Christopher, so the other characters will have to be given more to say and do, on stage. But if they did that, the play might end up being very different from the book. Its too early to say whether that might be a good thing or a bad thing. I’m sure there is a version of a script for the play somewhere, but until they start rehearsals, cast & crew won’t know what will work and what won’t. Simon Stephens is an award winning playwright, so one lives in hope. If his adaptation of the play works, maybe Hollywood will finally figure out how to transfer the book to the big screen.
Did you notice the “Movement Directors” and “Fight Director” amongst the production crew? With the Cottesloe being the smallest of the three NT theaters, this should prove an interesting experience to any one sitting near the front of the stage 😀
Yes, I thought it said ‘Flight Director’ first which really confused me!
Interesting too to note that Christopher’s father will be played by one of the 2 ‘ensemble’ cast members which perhaps suggests less emphasis on the front end of the story and more on Christopher’s London trip onwards… and hence more stage time for Nicola’s part?
I have just heard from the NT, advance booking for members will be open for the next season from 10th April, so I’m guessing it will be a week after that for normal booking. Good luck everyone!!
For National Theatre members who are on the Supporting Cast tier, booking opens on 2 April 2012. 🙂
It’s a bit weird as the NT brochure says public booking for The Curious Incident opens on Friday 4 May which is a fair bit later than for the other plays… any ideas why?
Only just found out from the NT – see our correction to the booking dates above for explanation. Its worrying that details about the play are still so fluid and sketchy. This means that cast and crew haven’t quite finalize how they want to stage the play. Fans thinking of attending the preview shows should take care. Preview shows sometimes get cancelled if the Company has not tweaked the play to its own satisfaction.
I really hope this play starts before July 24 I have to be back teaching on Aug. 5. Having taught this book, and finally having the funds to visit London I really want to see the play and of course Nicola Walker no matter the role she plays. Any chance play will start before July 24. Middle of July would be fine.
Hi Dee,
The play is part of the National Theatre ‘Olympic Festival’ programme. The festival starts on 21st June, and the play from July, so I would have thought the play will be in its second or even third week by your date. I hope so anyway… I have Olympic tickets and I am looking to combine the two trips!
I reckon that renting a flat in London for 2-3 months is the only sure way to see everything you might want this summer, the list is almost endless… Thames Pageant, Olympics, Paralympics, Cutty Sark, Nicola’s play. A bit of a balancing act really!
Oh I wish renting was an option for this seasons festivities!!!
I’m afraid I was speaking hypothetically too of course 🙁 London’s expensive at the best of times, let alone in Jubilee and Olympics year!
Brilliant idea, except that rents for London during this summer are horrendously high! My usual room at the inn costs 3 times higher than before!
A note to all…….
I have just been on the NT website and they have announced that tickets for the July to September season will be available from April…….
Woohoo, thanks for letting us know, George! 😀 Here’s the NT link, in case anyone’s interested.
Having now read the book I’m wondering if Nicola’s been cast as Siobhan, Christopher’s teaching assistant? The book’s written by Christopher in the first person which could be difficult to convey in a play, so one way round this would be to have the story relayed to the audience as Siobhan helps Christopher write the book. Which would be good as it’d mean that Nicola’s role was fairly central to the play.
I’m guessing Una Stubbs will be Mrs Alexander, and Luke Treadaway has to be Christopher – which will be a tough part to get right. It’s a clever, touching and insightful story, so it’s going to be interesting to see how they decide to adapt it to stage.
Siobhan is described in the book as having blonde hair, plus she didn’t have that big a part. Its an adaptation for the stage, so it won’t be completely faithful (though hopefully not in a bad way) to the book. My money is still on Nicola playing Christopher’s mother. 🙂
I don’t think the hair colour need rule Nicola out of playing Siobhan, I’m sure there’ll be bigger deviations from the book than that in the stage adaptation! I was suggesting Siobhan’s role may be given more emphasis in the play to assist with telling the story… we’ll have to wait and see!
Nah, I reckon Nicola’s in the “mum” phase of her career 😛 ! She’s playing one in both Inside Men and Antony & Cleopatra. We’ll know more if they release more casting info.
I disagree, each project is different – and besides I’m sure Nicola wouldn’t wish to be typecast. Either way, we know she’s got a part so that’s good news!
Wish I lived in the UK – I miss all the theatre things. 🙁
Great to hear Nicola has been cast in another stage role, congratulations to her! And at the NT too, so no cross-London tube journeys required either, even better! I’m sure I’m not the only fan who’ll be taking the opportunity to read this book before the summer, it’s one I’ve heard a lot about but never got round to reading.
It’ll be good to see Una Stubbs perform too, currently aka Mrs Hudson from Sherlock… perhaps she could speak to Mark Gatiss/Steven Moffat and see if Nicola could audition for a role in series 3 of Sherlock, that’d also be great!
A regular in Sherlock… what a diamond idea. Its another favourite BBC drama of mine!
Thanks for the info!
I live in hope that this will be “The One.” The production in which NW is cast that will be transmitted via NT Live. I keep telling myself that it’s only a matter of time.
Fingers (arms, legs, toes, eyes…) crossed…
I live in hope that this project will become available as one of the Digital Theatre’s downloads. But sadly, its doesn’t look like the NT is one of Digital Theatre’s theatre partners.
This is excellent news. Can Bonkers But Brilliant keep us all posted when the NT will have this on their website?! I know tickets for the NT can be like gold dust!
Of course, this is what we’re here for. The NT’s brochure for its next season should be out soon. 🙂