The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

by Simon Stephens

Christopher, fifteen years old, stands beside Mrs Shears' dead dog. It has been speared with a garden fork, it is seven minutes after midnight, and Christopher is under suspicion. He records each fact in the book he is writing to solve the mystery of who murdered Wellington. He has an extraordinary brain and is exceptional at maths, but he is ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched and he distrusts strangers. But Christopher's detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a frightening journey that turns his world upside-down. Simon Stephens' adaptation of Mark Haddon's bestselling, award-winning novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time offers a richly theatrical exploration of this touching and bleakly humorous tale.

Genres: Plays, Fiction, Theatre, Drama, School, Contemporary, Mystery

136 pages, Paperback

First published September 24, 2012

Reviews

[Kenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

“And all I could see would be stars. And stars are the places where the molecules that life is made of were constructed billions of years ago. For examples, all the iron in your blood, which stops you being anemic, was made in a star.”
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time ~~ Simon Stephens



I don't know why, but this script has a tremendous effect on me emotionally. I think it best to keep this review short and sweet.

Christopher ~~ our hero ~~ he’s so amazing. When he sums up his adventure and accomplishment I was over come with emotion.

This play reads beautifully, & plays magnificently. If you have the opportunity, see it.

[Steven Godin · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a excellent play this was! And I had no idea it was even based on a novel of the same name until I got this. Brilliantly capture the sensory overload in the journey of a sweet, compulsive, instinctive and unpredictably violent child called Christopher (although it isn't stated it's believed he has some sort of disorder like autism or having Asperger syndrome) as he investigates the murder of his neighbor's dog Wellington. There were some really touching moments in the play, and you absolutely get 100% behind the vulnerable Christopher and hope everything turns out OK for him in the end, after he travels to London from Swindon on his own to find his mother. Credit to Simon Stephens, as it's never an easy thing going from a novel to the stage but he did a great job. Drama at it's very best.

[Neil R. Coulter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find Simon Stephens's adaptation to be more satisfying than the original novel. It removes some of the sections that I found most tedious or frustrating about the novel, and it creates some innovative ways to portray the story on stage. It helps, of course, that I got to see the National Theatre Live cinema broadcast of the play earlier this year, which was a fantastic production.

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the stage adaptation of the best-selling novel by Mark Haddon. It's adapted by Simon Stephens.

I watched the show recently at the Leeds Grand Theatre and thought it was absolutely brilliant. I picked up the state adaptation while I was there.

The stage adaptation offers a concise version of the novel. There's a narration that I felt did not add any value to the adaptation, as if it was there as a not so funny gag. Besides that very minor point, the adaptation faithfully brings to life all of the chapters in spoken form.

[Lizzie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Slagging off the performative activism of this play got me into drama school so there's at least that

[Pete (Taylor’s Version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Oh my gosh this book. I thought I wouldn’t like it but I loved it and it’s a bit concerning how much I related to the main character. I was literally tearing up in the last few pages

Definitely recommend - it was such a page turned and quick read

[Ben Vore · Rating 4 out of 5]

An imaginative and faithful stage adaptation of the novel. The play reaffirms what Jay McInerney said of the book: “The gulf between Christopher and his parents, between Christopher and the rest of us, remains immense and mysterious. And that gulf is ultimately the source of this novel’s haunting impact. Christopher Boone is an unsolved mystery.”

[Maxx · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the way this book was written is very interesting because we can see from the perspective of a child with a bright mind, who also struggles with understanding social cues. It’s cool to see how smart Christopher is, and also how literally he explains everything. I definitely recommend reading!

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was fortunate enough to see the national tour of this play in LA last year and it was one of the most brilliant pieces of theatre I’ve ever seen.

[Julie Parks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is a fantastic book. I couldn't get myself into it, I mainly scanned through to see how it ends. But as someone who reads a lot, I recognize its value and quality. Just wasn't for me.

[Rebecca]

When reading the play “ The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Mark Haddon, I was surprisingly moved by the play. The play begins with 15 year old Christopher Boone who discovers a dead dog with a garden fork sticking out of its side. With this discovery, Christopher decides to make it his mission to find the murderer of his neighbors dog. Throughout his investigation, he proceeds to step out of his comfort zone and meet and talk to new people which he has never done before. Christopher finds out many hidden secrets and everything he thought he knew changed.

One thing that I loved about the play was the character journey as well as the growth towards the end of the play. I thought it was quite moving, especially since the play started as a simple investigation which led to Christopher’s discovery of his mom and what happened to her and even his dad who I thought was just a grieving and hard working single parent who is trying to help his son who has hard times adapting to something new. Christopher’s character growth was shown towards the end of the play especially in Act 57, School were he tells Mrs. Gascoyne the things he can do and accomplish. This to me shows character growth because when he was first introduced in the play he was a kept to himself kind of person and didn’t really talk to strangers. He starts to grow from this when he decides to find out what happened to the dog and he forces himself to talk to others and find answers. He even shows growth when he decides to go to London to look for his mom all by himself, leaving the place he once called home and stepping out of his comfort zone.

Overall this play moved me in so many ways and I was even able to see a little bit of myself in Christopher. This play shows the beauty of stepping out of your own comfort zone as well as gaining self confidence. The audience sees how much Christopher changed from the beginning of the play and the ending of it. It shows you that no matter who you are and what your odds are, you can always push through that.

[Mia Costa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stage adaptation based on the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time written by Mark Haddon, is about a young fifteen year old boy named Christopher Boone going undercover about the murder of a neighbor's dog. Christopher John Francis Boone has an extraordinary brain and can be very exceptional with all math. He is the one who found the murdered dog until a few minutes later he was accused of murdering him by the owner Mrs. Shears. Christopher goes into detective mode to try and find out who actually murdered the dog and get into the investigation by writing a book all about it.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time was a very interesting read. I did enjoy the murder mystery because it had a lot of plot twists in it. Christopher is a very intelligent young boy and I liked how he was invested in the case he built. But I had some disagreements with some of the characters in the play such as the neighbor Mrs. Shears and Christopher’s dad, Ed. I didn’t like how Mrs. Shears instantly accused Christopher of murdering her dog just because he found the dog. She should thank him for building an investigation on who actually killed him. As I kept reading the play it was crazy how the more Christopher asked questions for the crime it kept opening up doors from lies his father told him about his family's troubles. Ed kept telling Christopher to drop the case and stop getting into other people's business but he kept being suspicious about the whole thing. I also didn’t like how Ed lied about Christopher's mom all due to affairs between Ed and Mrs. Shears and Christopher's mom and Mr. Shears. Ed lied to Christopher his whole life about his mother and it took a dog dying to find that out. I felt bad for Christopher knowing that his father lied to him about everything. But the end of the play shocked me on how it ended. But overall I enjoyed reading the play and it was very intriguing on how it all ties together. I do recommend this play for others to read!

[Madison Oliver]

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time follows the story of a teenage boy named Christopher in which he sets out on a journey of investigating the crime after finding his neighbor’s god dead on the front lawn. The play is written as an investigative journal in Christopher’s point of view. He ends up uncovering deeper secrets than he anticipated, including secret relationships, lies, deception, and mistrust. This drives Christopher to leave home, running away to London to seek answers about all that he has uncovered, eventually leading to new beginnings, a period of healing, and hope for not only his own future, but those who are close to him as well.
I thought that this play was very interesting, it was definitely written in a different way than you would see in a standard play, and I felt that that kept me engaged in the story. The style of the writing that was used to signify that this play was an investigative journal was interesting, especially being from Christopher’s point of view, as his brain works differently than not only my own, but a majority of people. His reasoning and questions that he has show that not only does he take things extremely literally, but also that he is extremely intelligent, and he just wants to see how the world works and why things happen (once he is fixated on it, in this case the murder of the dog). I also find it interesting that though it wasn’t explicitly stated, the language that the author used made it clear that Christopher had some sort of disorder (maybe a form of autism or Asperger’s). Through the things that Christopher mention bother him (noise, physical contact), the way he speaks somewhat bluntly, and the way that he thinks EXTREMELY literally all add to this idea, even though again, it was never stated. Overall, I thought this play kept a strong sense of suspense the whole way through, implementing moments of frustration, pain, and reconciliation, making for an overall very enjoyable read.

[Kaitlynn Rodriguez]

In the play titled “The Curious Incident of The Dog In The Night-Time”, based on a novel by Mark Haddon and adapted by Simon Stephens, the main character of the play is a fifteen-year-old boy named Christopher Boone. In this story, Christopher is accompanied by his father Ed, his teacher Siobhan, and other side characters such as neighbors and school faculty. Christopher is a child who is very different from other children. He is very good at mathematics and likes to keep to himself most of the time. As the play goes on, Christopher experiences many moments where he is tested and eventually learns that going out and being uncomfortable can help someone grow.
All throughout the play readers get first-hand insight into how Christopher feels when doing relatively simple things. For example, when Christopher is doing something that he finds very overwhelming the way the play is written will get very short and repetitive. We see this when Christopher has just experienced something a bit traumatic and has to navigate a busy London train station all alone. Christopher begins to hear everything at once and the lines become short while every advertisement being said over speakers is written and takes up almost a whole page of the play. I can only imagine just how frightened Christopher felt when he was trying to find his way home in a place he had never been before. Another thing I liked about the play was that at most times it was very sporadic and difficult to follow. Normally, this wouldn't be great when reading a play, but in this case, I feel like I was experiencing life stressful times with Christopher. Overall, I think the authors of this play did a wonderful job when it came to accurately demonstrating the feeling of being overwhelmed through text alone.

[Jaqueline Castaneda]

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a play about a teenager with autism who is trying to solve a mystery involving his neighbor's dog. This play is told through Christopher’s unique perspective which takes us into his logical way of thinking. Christopher is both the storyteller and protagonist which gives us a deeper understanding of his struggles and how people view him as “different” due to his condition.

Christopher’s journey having to deal with his condition stood out to me the most. He is a very straightforward teenager who sometimes makes candid comments that catch you off guard; due to the responses Christopher gets from his family and friends you can tell that he is being judged and viewed differently. His unique way of communicating is seen in his use of language that gives us an insight in his way of thinking. This text can also be very triggering to many readers due to the way he is treated as we might interpret it as a cruel act. This play made me think about how we see and might treat others differently. It’s very emotional at times especially if you are dealing with family struggles. It’s a powerful play that definitely sticks with you and takes you into a deeper understanding of what people with Autism have to go through and what they might be feeling. Understanding its different perspectives can make a very big impact on the world and how people see others. This play sends out an important message that everyone should be treated with care and fairly because if you don’t understand how others process information it can be completely different than your process of thought.

[Friends! · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is going to be one of the books where I have more dislikes rather than likes.

Christopher, a child with autism, is a bearing of heavy burden for his parents, who are already the farthest things from perfect altogether. In the first scene, there is a dead dog. I believe that a child, Christopher, having to confront a dead organism so early on is just a huge sign for how this play will take its direction. In respects to the plot, there are many ill moments that are revealed to the audience regarding the parents' relationships (as well as the problems), the drama of the neighbors, the arrogance and ignorance of almost all other characters, all revealed to Christopher because of a dead dog.

Personally, I know people who have autism and have connected with them firsthand. Some of the scenes in this play have resulted to points where I've gotten quite mental reaction. I find it hard to read about some of the ignorance and arrogance from many of the characters presented in the play, and I'm going to amount all of it to a success of writing to the author. Commendable, as it had me invested into our main character. Any time I'm to read any piece of media, I feel the need to self-relate and dig deeper, critically think and compare it to situations for my past, present, and future self. Applying this to this play, I'll definitely say I'll not be mimicking the likes of majority of characters here.

Overall, the play was effective. I disliked it because of the times where I disliked the writing as a whole. I enjoy the pulling of emotions it had towards my heart.

[Reader]

“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" is a theatrical story that brings to the stage the intriguing tale of Christopher Boone, a 15-year-old with an remarkable brain. He's exceptional at math but ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. When he discovers his neighbor's dog has been killed, he embarks on a detective journey that turns his world upside down.Something I particularly enjoyed about the play was its dramatic structure. The way the story unfolds through Christopher's eyes is both creative and engaging, making the audience part of his thought process. The use of technology and staging to visualize his perspective is very brilliant. This not only serves the character's journey but also deepens the thematic focus on the challenges of communication and understanding in human relationships.The language of the play is another standout element. It captures the core of the novel's voice, maintaining its authenticity and charm. The dialogue is sharp, insightful, and quite humorous, providing a balance to the more intense moments of the play. Overall, this play is proof of the power of seeing the world through someone else's eyes, and it's a touching, captivating experience that stays with you for a long time.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is fascinating! Spending time inside the mind of an autistic boy - what an experience. I honestly didn’t realize just how many challenges people like him face (and I have autistic friends, so some parts of the story I’ve seen firsthand. I know it’s fiction, but it often felt uncomfortably close to reality).

I was fully immersed in that very different way of thinking, following Christopher with deep interest. And to be honest, I don’t think the plot really matters here, it’s more of a backdrop for the real focus: how a mind like his works. I appreciated every little detail.

But by the end, I also felt deeply disturbed. It’s such a heavy way to live, not just for Christopher, but for his parents too. At one point, I imagined being the mother of a boy like him, and oh God… I didn’t like what I saw in myself.

This is a solid read, and I truly recommend spending a few hours in Christopher’s world. It’s only around 100 pages, but it leaves a lasting impression.

[natalia steves · Rating 3 out of 5]

this play was really interesting! while it was not my favorite it really made me think about a lot of things and made me think of my brother. i do miss the little guy. but there were also some aspects that made me uncomfortable — although i think that was the point. i think it was well written, but i also think that it just isn’t the play for me so 3.2/5⭐️

[maya🪷 · Rating 5 out of 5]

better than the original 😬😬

[Karleigh Kebartas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good autism representation

[meka ౨ৎ˖° · Rating 1 out of 5]

I HATE THIS SO MUCH
CAN EVERYONE IN LITERATURE SYBAU RN

[Mia Woolfrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars

[Henry Hood · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a charming enough story but my god is the writing sparse in this. Not too excited to teach this to my Y8s as there’s not exactly much meat on the bone…

[Charlie Hollis · Rating 2 out of 5]

christopher pmo

[Vlada · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read the actual book before, which was even better. I like that it shows it through Christopher's perspective. Pretty good :)

[Caroline 'relaxing with my rescue dogs' · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was not my normal book but I really enjoyed it . It was very well written

[Edward Cheer · Rating 3 out of 5]

After having read the fantastic novel about mentally-troubled children and the mysterious murders of canines, I decided it would be great to read the play inspired off that same novel.

And... yeah, it was okay. But I feel like this is a classic example of an adaptation of storytelling mediums depreciating the value of the story.

Don't get me wrong, this is still a good play. I'd love to see it performed, and it's worth a read, but I feel like a lot of the charm and character in the play from Christopher's narration being lost for a theatrical adaptation takes away the feeling of blunt honesty that Haddon had written into his book. I'm not tearing my hair out because of this, it's just something that comes with adapting a book to a play, but I feel like that change isn't always good for specific novels.

Don't let me deter you from reading this play. It's not horrible. I just feel like the novel in this case, has volumes more to say and much more to appreciate (and a lot less forced-in meta-theatrical references) than the play does. It's still worth a read, though.

[Julie Mestdagh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book so well written I couldn't put it down and read it all at once. Great story, told from the perspective of a 15 year old autistic kid whose life depends on logic and structures. Never thought a book in which the chapters aren't numbered 1,2, 3 but by prime numbers and in which they say economists aren't real scientists would be able to capture my attention so intensively. Well written. Funny and sad. Surprisingly fresh. Makes you look at human behaviour from a whole different perspective. Loved it. 4 stars, not 5 because well… the mystery part of the book isn't that mysterious after all.

[Ella Barratt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is one of the best books I have ever read. Christopher , a 15 year old kid who suffers from Autism spectrum. Christopher , has a father but his mother "past away" from a "heart attack". Christopher lives alone with his father and no siblings, Francis excels in mathematics and is doing an exam for his A levels. Christopher discovered his neighbors dead dog, perched with a garden fork. Christopher's neighbour called the police on Christopher and when the Police when to touch him to ask him questions he slapped the police men and got arrested for police assault.