I’ll cut to the chase and put it straight out there that this is the best play I’ve ever seen. It was, quite literally, sensational in that at some points my senses were overloaded to the point of it becoming slightly uncomfortable. So in that aspect, the play has hit the nail on the head.
You see, The Curious Incident is adapted from a book of the same title centred around a fifteen year old (give or take a few months, weeks, and days) called Christopher Boone (Scott Reid) with Asbergers Syndrome. I’m no expert on the matter, but I have spoken to friends where autism is part of every day life, and done a little reading on it myself, so I’ve gathered a very basic understanding of the sensory overload side of things. However, the sound and lighting in this performance puts it in a whole new perspective entirely; the opening minute is like being trapped in a bad dream. Loud, horrible music and sounds. Bright, flashing lights. At some points during the performance I had to close my eyes whilst this happened to give myself a rest break. A very clever way of portraying Christopher’s distress, and a reminder for myself as I write this that for people with AS there is no closing your eyes and turning your head away from the stage.
The visuals and audio weren’t solely a means to cause the audience discomfort though. At points it was quite the opposite. Serene and relaxing are words that spring to mind. I honestly sat there throughout the whole show with my mouth open in amazement at the wonderful use of effects. Two very memorable moments for me were a blue, a green, and a red (no yellow, we don’t like yellow) lit box in three of Christopher’s neighbour’s houses, and the train going through the tube station. The was no train, but I saw the train. I saw it go across the stage, my eyes followed it. That was just the tip of the iceberg though. I’ll not start on the set itself otherwise it would have left Nottingham by the time I finish.
The show was stolen, in my opinion, by Reid. His acting was stellar. Truly out of this world. You can tell he has studied his part well, everything from the way he spoke, his mannerisms, even down to the smallest of twitches in his fingers. Not to take away from the other cast members, but Reid really stepped up to the plate on this one and did not disappoint.
It’s a very interesting play (I’ve not read the book by Mark Haddon) with a social commentary from a very unique perspective. It is very dark at points, and yet very light-hearted at others. I’m not exaggerating when I say I sat through the majority of the performance with goosebumps all over. Within the first five minutes I had already decided it was going to be the best play I’ve ever seen. By the interval I was left speechless, not sure how to convey how I was feeling. At the end my eyes had welled up and I was on my feet with a grin on my face.
I’ve not spoken too much about the actual plot, and I’m sorry if you were expecting a tad more about that, but for me it was more about the emotion and what I took away from it at the end of the night. Please, go and watch it. You’ll not regret it. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be astounded. Also, did you you know the word ‘metaphor’ is actually a metaphor? Language can be so confusing.
Showing at Theatre Royal until Saturday 15th April, tickets from £16.50 available here.
Review by John Banks
