The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time follows 15-year-old Christopher who (though not formally mentioned) has autism or Asperger’s syndrome.

The play opens with him discovering the corpse of his neighbour’s dog after it’s been skewered with a pitchfork.

Christopher then takes it upon himself to investigate and find out who murdered Wellington and ends up uncovering a lot more about his own family in the process.

I was watching the opening night of King William’s College’s version of the show.

Walking into the quaint theatre, I was immediately intrigued by the staging; billowing white sheets hung from the ceiling and draped the back of the stage.

They would end up playing a key role in the production. Throughout the play, images were projected onto them in a way that transported the audience to the location of the scenes and used to symbolise Christopher’s emotional distress. From start to finish, the tech in the show (courtesy of tech team Paul and Charles DTDM) was ambitiously impressive.

The main role of Christopher is played by Harrison S who knocked his performance out of the park.

His line delivery was believable, as was his ability to display emotional distress, which contrasted his comedic delivery brilliantly.

Elsewhere, Alice H who plays Siobhan, Christopher’s teacher, has a great stage presence. One that’s calm and steady, it’s a quality that makes the audience feel safe whenever she’s on stage. Christopher’s mum, Judy, played by Millie C displays a similar quality. Her portrayal of sadness is quiet yet palpable throughout the show, showing maturity in her performance.

The whole show is minimal but technical, each aspect balancing the other nicely and making the production ambitious in a way that highlights the calibre and experience of its directors, Miss Molyneux and Mr Dawson.

There are minimal costumes and props. To make up for this, the cast performs as much physical theatre as they do straight acting, giving the play a dance-like quality – I loved the scene when the cast pick Christopher up to imitate him flying through space - while also being raw bare-bones theatre – Amy L and Artemiy S’s portrayal of a cash point was excellently convincing.

There’s no interval but the production moves at a swift pace, each scene bringing charm, humour, or tension with the final line exposing the message at the heart of the play being delivered in heart-breaking yet beautiful fashion.

The show displays the full spectrum of emotions through a character who struggles to understand them. And as an audience member, I felt all of them.

All amplified by the creatively fantastic use of tech.

- Do you have an exciting event coming up? We want to hear from you! Island Life in the Manx Independent is the perfect place to showcase creativity and cultural events across the Isle of Man. Email [email protected] with details and a photo for a chance to be featured. Whether it’s a new book, an album release, or an upcoming performance, let us help spread the word!