The National Theatre’s hit show The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is returning to London’s West End for a limited run.
The production will begin previews at the Piccadilly Theatre on 29 November 2018, with an opening night on 11 December, in a co-production with Ambassador Theatre Group. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on 21 September at 9.30am, with booking to 23 February 2019. Casting is still to be announced.
The show has been seen around the world after its initial sold-out run at the National Theatre’s former Cottesloe Theatre in September 2012. It was adapted by Simon Stephens from the best-selling novel by Mark Haddon and directed by Marianne Elliott whose latest production, Company, will be running at the same time at the nearby Gielgud Theatre – where Curious Incident ran until June last year.
After transferring to the West End and Broadway, it has more recently completed a 30-date tour of the USA while a second 25-city tour of the UK and Ireland ended in September 2017. An international tour visited Amsterdam, Toronto, Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Sydney and Perth in 2017 and 2018.
A schools tour, taking a specially staged in-the-round 90-minute version of the play into 60 schools around the country, began this month and will run until December.
The visually stunning, moving show tells the story of 15-year-old Christopher Boone who has an extraordinary brain and is exceptional at maths but is ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He sets out to solve the mystery of who killed a neighbour’s dog which takes him on a frightening journey that upturns his world.
Simon Stephens said: “I am stunned and inspired by the return of Curious Incident to the West End. It is a story that means the world to me. Mark Haddon’s exquisite imagination twisted into shape and infused with life by Marianne Elliott and her incredible team.
“After travelling the country and seeing the world, Christopher Boone is coming back home. I’m mainly thrilled because I get to see it again.”
Lisa Burger, the National Theatre’s executive director, added: “We always felt that there were many more performances of Curious Incident in the West End left to give, and many more audiences who were yet to connect with Christopher Boone and his extraordinary story.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to be joining with ATG to bring Curious Incident – with its stellar creative team – back to the West End and we can’t wait to share this beautiful and inventive show with a new generation of audiences.”
Curious Incident received seven Olivier Awards in 2013, including Best New Play, Best Director, Best Design, Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design – more Oliviers than any other play in the history of London’s West End at that time. In New York, it won five Tony Awards including Best Play, six Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Play, five Outer Critics Circle Awards and the Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off Broadway Play.
The production is designed by Bunny Christie, with lighting design by Paule Constable and video design by Finn Ross. Movement is by Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett for Frantic Assembly, music by Adrian Sutton and sound by Ian Dickinson for Autograph.
