The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Plot - CCEA

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a stage adaptation by Simon Stephens of the original novel by Mark Haddon. Published in 2003, the novel quickly became a huge success. Both the novel and the play tell the story of a gifted boy called Christopher Boone. He investigates the killing of a dog and in doing so has an adventure of self-discovery.

• Summary: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time follows the story of Christopher Boone, a 15-year-old, who is exceptional at Maths but finds people confusing. The play opens with Christopher discovering a dead dog in his neighbour, Mrs Shears', garden. Despite his father, Ed, warning Christopher not to get involved, Christopher decides to investigate the death of the dog. In doing so he discovers that his mother is not dead as his father had told him, but alive and well, living in London. He also discovers that it was his father who killed the dog. Christopher feels that his father is a murderer, who he cannot trust. He can no longer live with him and so he bravely travels to London to find his mother. Christopher has difficulty settling into his new life in London and returns to Swindon to take his A-level Maths exam. The play ends with him passing the exam and the realisation that he can do anything he puts his mind to.
• Title: Taken from the novel, the title is an allusion to a Sherlock Holmes story, The Adventure of Silver Blaze – the protagonist is a fan of Sherlock Holmes and attempts to copy his methods in solving the mystery of who killed the dog.
• Setting: Swindon and London, England, during the late 20th Century.
• Themes: Family, honesty and trust, braving the unknown, growing up and learning, logic and emotion, difference and ability, social norms.

Summary

• Christopher discovers the body of Wellington the dog and decides to investigate his death despite his dad's warnings not to pry into other people's business.
• Mrs Alexander tells Christopher that his mum had an affair. He then discovers a box full of letters his mother has sent him and realises that she is not dead as he had been led to believe by his dad.
• Ed finds a distressed Christopher and confesses the truth to him. He tries to explain why he lied about his mother – he also reveals it was he who killed Wellington.
• Losing trust in his father, Christopher decides he cannot live with him anymore and so he must go to London to find his mother, Judy.
• Christopher gets on the train to London, very brave considering he has never left Swindon. He uses the London Underground and has a chaotic and eventful journey.
• Eventually he reaches his mother's flat. Her boyfriend, Mr Shears, does not like having Christopher around.
• Christopher and his mum leave, and move back to Swindon.
• Christopher starts to rebuild his relationship with dad. After his pet rat dies, Ed gives him a puppy.
• Even though he is only 15, Christopher takes his Maths A-level exam. He passes and gets an A*. By the end of the play Christopher is looking forward to the future.

We first meet Christopher, the protagonist of the play, standing by a dead dog called Wellington. The owner of the dog, Christopher's neighbour Mrs Shears, is also at the scene, she is very distressed. The police arrive and question Christopher's involvement in the murder of the dog. The questioning upsets him and he ends up hitting a police officer. Christopher is arrested.

Christopher is given a caution by the police and his father, Ed, takes him home and warns him to stay out of other peoples' business. We learn that two years earlier Christopher's mother, Judy, died of a heart attack. Despite the warning from his father, Christopher decides to continue investigating the death of Wellington. We also learn that Christopher is planning on taking his A-level Maths exam in the near future.

While questioning the local residents, Christopher meets elderly Mrs Alexander. She reveals to him that his mother was having an affair with Roger (Mr Shears). Christopher does not understand this. She is surprised that Christopher talks about his mother going into hospital.

Ed then finds Christopher's notebook in which he has been recording his investigations. This makes him very angry – in the argument that follows, he hits Christopher, takes the notebook from him and hides it.

Whilst looking for his notebook, Christopher discovers a number of letters sent by his mother. The letters tell her side of the story, how she fell in love with Mr Shears and how she felt she was not very good at looking after Christopher. As a result, she went to live in London with Mr Shears. Worst of all, Christopher finds out that his father stopped her from saying goodbye. This makes Christopher break down in tears.

Ed finds Christopher and explains how after his wife, Judy, left, he became close to Mrs Shears and began a romantic relationship with her. This did not work out and after a bad argument, he killed Mrs Shears' dog, Wellington. Christopher decides he cannot trust his father and goes by himself to London to live with his mother.

Christopher gets on the train and then has to brave the London Underground. His journey is chaotic and he puts himself in great danger after his pet rat escapes on to the tracks and he tries to rescue him. After much difficulty, Christopher finds the flat where his mother lives with Mr Shears. He lives with her for a time and his A-level Maths exam is postponed. Christopher's presence puts a strain on his mother's relationship with Mr Shears, who drunkenly attacks Christopher. After this, he and his mother leave London and return to Swindon.

Due to the disruption of his family life, Christopher has to live in sheltered accommodation where his parents can visit. Luckily he does manage to get back in time to take his Maths A-level. Christopher is very distressed before the exam but Siobhan, his teacher, calms him down and helps him focus.

Whilst waiting for his exam result Christopher is rebuilding his relationship with his father who has bought him a puppy to replace his pet rat, Toby, who has died. The play ends with Christopher getting an A* in Maths and planning a bright future. He is proud to have solved the mystery of Wellington's death. After the main action of the play, Christopher comes on stage to triumphantly explain how he managed to solve one of the questions in his exam!