Adapting The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: A conversation with Simon Stephens

The following interview was completed by telephone on 10 September 2012. It focuses on Simon Stephens’ adaptation of Mark Haddon’s novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. The award-winning book tells the story of fifteen-year-old Christopher, who tries to solve the mystery of his next-door neighbour’s dog’s murder. This conversation gives an account of Stephens’ reading of Haddon’s work; his understanding and realization, onstage, of Christopher, who suffers Asperger Syndrome; his changes to the novel’s ending; and the staging of the play in the intimate setting of the Cottesloe at the National Theatre in London. The critically and commercially acclaimed production transferred to the Apollo Theatre in the West End and ran until December 2013, when part of the theatre’s roof collapsed. The play will move to the Gielgud Theatre in June 2014.