Chichester Festival Theatre

It’s an updated version set in 2026 amid different times which comes to Chichester Festival Theatre as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time hits the road (Nov 17-21).

Based on the best-selling novel by Mark Haddon, it is now the tale of female Chris rather than male Christopher, a girl gifted with a brilliant mind for numbers but unsettled by the unpredictability of people and everyday life.

When a neighbour’s dog is discovered killed, Chris comes under suspicion. Determined to prove her innocence, Chris becomes both detective and suspect, drawn into a mystery that grows darker and more complex with every clue uncovered… in a new look at the internationally celebrated novel that has captivated more than 10 million readers.

Joe McFadden (The Shawshank Redemption, UK tour; 2:22 A Ghost Story, West End; Strictly Come Dancing winner 2017) is playing the dad Ed in the piece.

“So many people will know the massively successful National Theatre production but this production puts our own stamp on it. We've got all-new lighting and an all-new set and it's very different, and the central character is now female which makes it very interesting from the playing point of view, the fact that Christopher is now Chris, a girl. I play the dad, and I think fathers find that their daughters bring out a softer side in them. The dad does some abominable things but the fact that in this he now has a daughter rather than a son means that you do see a softer and more encouraging side to him, and I think the fact that the wife has left her daughter feels so much more hard hitting (than leaving her son).

“And it also changes the way that the story is told, the fact that Chris gets so overwhelmed by the world in a much more internal way. With Christopher you would see him getting overwhelmed in a much more external way but with Chris it's much more of an internal wrangling, and that's something very interesting to show in the theatre.

“I never really questioned that much why they've made the change. I just thought what an interesting thing to do for a production of a story that people know so well. Also it is completely updated. It is now set in 2026 and I think that is interesting because it asks a lot of different questions. We now know so much more about autism and about Asperger's than we did back when the book was written in 2003 or when the play was done in 2012 and I think that opens up questions of why do people still make awful decisions when the knowledge is out there.

“Ed does do some quite atrocious things but then in some ways I think you have to think that he does them from a good place. He absolutely loves his child but he is just overwhelmed and can't cope. You learn very quickly that his marriage has broken down and that Ed is a single parent and is working full time and he has this child that has very specific needs. He is doing his best. He is flawed. He is certainly not father of the year but hopefully by the end of it you will understand why he does the questionable things that he does in the play. It has been so interesting to do. I've never done so much intrinsically forensic work during rehearsals just to understand the character and what is happening.”