Last night I had the pleasure of being invited along to the always wonderful Grand Opera House York to review the latest leg of the UK tour of “The curious incident of the dog in the night time”. I have only seen this play once before in a rather wonderful amateur production at the Minack Theatre in Cornwall, so I was very much looking forward to seeing a professional company take on this famous script and I have to say they more than delivered. The plot follows 15-year-old Chris Boone, a young girl with autism who discovers her neighbour’s dog murdered and decides to investigate who killed the dog. This production offers a fresh twist on the story as classically Chris is a boy but, in this production, they have switched Chris to being a girl. My partner particularly appreciated this change as she also is autistic, and she commented that she could relate a lot more to Chris as a character looking at it through the eyes of how autism affects someone who is female.
Alex Keenan stars in the role of Chris Boone. Keenan was absolutely fabulous in this role and I was very surprised to see in the program that this is her professional debut. Her physicality was perfect, I certainly noted little non verbal quirks that my partner also does, and this made her portrayal feel so true to me and never distasteful or mocking. Charlie Brooks was strong as Judy Boone, with a brilliant emotional depth to her portrayal and a wonderful care for her on stage daughter. Joe McFadden was good as Ed Boone, playing the under pressure single father very well although sometimes he came across as just a bit too shouty for my liking. His relationship rekindling with his daughter at the end though was touching. Bridgette Amofah was great as Siobhan. Her portrayal of Chris’ teacher was great, and I loved the way she spoke to Chris and didn’t air towards babying as so easily could be done. The wider ensemble were all brilliant as well.
In terms of production, I loved the set. With clear lines and block colours this was a perfect visual representation of how the brain of an autistic person works, there are no grey areas etc, only what is and what isn’t. I loved the animal puppets, and the puppeteers deserve acclaim for just how well they brought them to life and made them so likeable. The lighting was strong as was the sound for the most part, except for some dropping mics here and there.
Overall, I would highly recommend a trip to watch “The curious incident of the dog in the night time”. This production offers a fresh spin and the story and I’m sure it is a spin we will see for many years to come.
Reviewer: Adam Craddock
Reviewed: 27th October 2026
North West End UK Rating: