Cranford Review 2019

“In my opinion, the play was one of the best plays I have ever watched- I was so into the play and
there were so many cliff hangers which wanted me to watch more of it. I also liked how Christopher
showed the audience how he got his maths level question. There was so much suspense and tension
in the play and that was one of my key points of the play. I would definitely recommend this play;
I think others would feel the exact same way about how I feel about this play”.
Saffiyaa Patankar (year 9)
“Overall, this was a very well-crafted
play and the use of lighting effects and
the stark stage helps show Christopher’s
struggles and mind-set as the play
progresses. The supporting cast as well as
the main cast is presented spectacularly
and realistically helping show how taking
care of a child like him really is. This is
a great play representing and promoting
the understanding of autism and other
mental illnesses and everyone should at
least give it a watch or a read. If you
watch it, I assure you the choreography
will impress and amaze you”.
Maryam Moeen (year 9)
Swindon. The story ends with Christopher getting a
puppy, and starting to rebuild the relationship with
his father.
The physical theatre by the ensemble of actors
intrigued the audience even more, as the lifts and
falls were very impressive. It is an abstract use of
theatre, which uses movement in a stylized way.
Actions make it easier for the actors to intrigue the
audience, rather than telling you that Christopher
was confused, they showed you. The lifts create
tension for the audience as we don’t know if
anything could go wrong and it shows Christopher’s
confusion. The use of the floor was very clever as
well; the floor was like graph paper to represent
Christopher’s mind. The actors sit around the set on
these blocks, which open up as storage, and pop up
as and when Christopher needs them. I also loved
how the audience were on all four sides, so we got
to see everything and feel engulfed as we become a
part of it. As an audience member, I felt like I was
a part of Christopher’s world and not just sitting in
the audience. The ending was really eye-opening as
Ed, Christopher’s father, gives him a dog. Instead
of having a fake dog, they brought out a real dog
and it was so adorable and everyone felt extremely
happy, just like Christopher. I feel privileged to
have been a part of ‘The Curious Incident of the
Dog in the Night Time.’ My favourite character is
Ed Boone, as he is caring and patient, as he puts
up with Christopher’s sometimes unusual habits
and behaviour. He is open about his feelings and
tells Christopher that he loves him. Ed is also fiery
tempered, as he hits Christopher but feels really
bad afterwards. I feel like you can really empathise
with Ed as he just exploded, dealing with something
that really hurt him all of those years ago. This
play is one of the best plays I have ever seen as the
characterisation in the play was fantastic.
Sanjana Bhola (year 9)
31