The National Theatre is to bring a special 90-minute production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time to Sunderland schools in the autumn term.
The play, based on Mark Haddon’s novel, which has won more than 17 literary awards and is widely studied in schools and adapted for the stage by Simon Stephens, is directed by Marianne Elliott with movement by Scott Graham and Olivier Award-winning Steven Hoggett for Frantic Assembly.
Simon Stephens’s stage adaptation is a set text for GCSE English Literature.
Casting will be announced later.
The tour is accompanied by a learning programme which includes professional development for teachers led by the NT and Curious Incident movement directors Frantic Assembly, as well as curriculum-based resources and workshops.
The production will visit five selected secondary schools each week across London and the UK, touring to the National Theatre’s six Theatre Nation partner areas and the Sunderland visit is in partnership with Sunderland Empire, where the production played in 2015, and Sunderland Culture.
The play tells the story of Christopher John Francis Boone, who is fifteen years old. He stands besides Mrs Shears’s dead dog, Wellington, who has been speared with a garden fork, it is seven minutes after midnight and Christopher is under suspicion. He records each fact in a book he is writing to solve the mystery of who killed Wellington.
He has an extraordinary brain and is exceptional at maths while ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched and distrusts strangers. But his detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a frightening journey that upturns his world.
“It means the world to me that Curious Incident will be touring schools around the country,” said Simon Stephens. “I worked as a schoolteacher teaching kids in Dagenham in Essex 20 years ago. I loved it.
"I still think of myself as a teacher. I have seen first-hand how inspiring drama is to young people in schools. I believe the arts to be fundamental to our society. We can’t afford to lose them from our education system. I am delighted that our play will play its part in introducing young people to the theatre.
"I always hoped that Curious Incident was a play that could be performed anywhere, by anyone. The play is designed to provoke and inspire imagination and interpretation in its staging and inspiration in its audience. The tour will, I hope, provide the same kind of imagination and inspiration throughout the country.”
Alice King-Farlow, Director of Learning at the National Theatre, added, “at the National Theatre, we believe that all young people should have the opportunity to experience and participate in drama no matter where they are in the UK.
"We’re delighted to be touring this award-winning play to schools and, via our Theatre Nation Partnerships, we hope that bringing Simon Stephens’s brilliant Curious Incident to young audiences across the country will help to spark imaginations and encourage participation in theatre.”
Theatre Nation Partnerships is a new collaborative project to support and grow engagement in theatre around the country and reach new audiences. The three-year project focusses aspects of the National Theatre’s nationwide work into areas where there are challenges to arts engagement, working with local theatres to build a lasting audience—drawing on combined expertise and resources and each partner’s deep community links.
The tour, which will also visit Doncaster, Greater Manchester, Outer East London, Wakefield and Wolverhampton, starts in September. The Sunderland dates are yet to be announced.