0:00:22 > 0:00:26WOMAN READS: "My name is Christopher John Francis Boone."
0:00:26 > 0:00:30The story of Curious Incident is a story about Christopher Boone,
0:00:30 > 0:00:34a 15-year-old boy, who finds a dog with a fork through it
0:00:34 > 0:00:37in his neighbour's front garden one evening when he's out for a walk.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40"It was seven minutes after midnight.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43"The dog was lying in the grass in the middle of the lawn in front
0:00:43 > 0:00:47- "of Mrs Shears' house." - Get away from my dog!
0:00:49 > 0:00:52By following clues and finding things in his house,
0:00:52 > 0:00:54he goes on a journey to London.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58- Single or return? - What does "single or return" mean?
0:00:58 > 0:01:01And discovers his mother, who he thought was dead, is still alive.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04- Where's your father, Christopher? - I think he's in Swindon.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06His whole family life in his head changes,
0:01:06 > 0:01:10from what he thought his family life was to the reality of it.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12Father said you were dead.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16What?
0:01:16 > 0:01:18He said you went into hospital because you had something
0:01:18 > 0:01:21wrong with your heart and then you had a heart attack and died.
0:01:21 > 0:01:22Oh, my God.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25Everybody who reads this book falls in love with the way
0:01:25 > 0:01:27Christopher thinks, and the detail and the wit
0:01:27 > 0:01:31and the clarity with which Christopher sees the world.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34- I have a rat.- Rat?! - He's called Toby.- Oh!
0:01:34 > 0:01:35Most people don't like rats
0:01:35 > 0:01:38because they think they carry diseases like bubonic plague,
0:01:38 > 0:01:40but that's only because they lived in sewers
0:01:40 > 0:01:43and stowed away on ships coming from foreign countries where there
0:01:43 > 0:01:45were strange diseases, but rats are very clean.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48Doing an adaptation of a very well-known book or film
0:01:48 > 0:01:52in the theatre is risky, because people come expecting what
0:01:52 > 0:01:55they'd remembered or how they'd imagined it.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00My way into interpreting Christopher was being very loyal to
0:02:00 > 0:02:03Mark Haddon and just really sticking to what he'd written in the novel.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07Maybe I could bring some tea out here! Do you like lemon squash?
0:02:07 > 0:02:10- I only like orange squash.- Luckily, I have some of that as well.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13Oh, and what about Battenberg?
0:02:13 > 0:02:16I don't know because I don't know what Battenberg is.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19One of Mark Haddon's great geniuses is that he writes
0:02:19 > 0:02:20brilliant direct speech.
0:02:20 > 0:02:25A lot of novelists use dialogue as a means of releasing back-story
0:02:25 > 0:02:28or a means of getting characters to say how they're feeling,
0:02:28 > 0:02:29and Mark never does that.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33- Where have you been? - I have been out.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35I just had a phone call from Mrs Shears.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38What the hell were you doing, poking round her garden?
0:02:38 > 0:02:41I was doing detective work, trying to figure out who killed Wellington.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45Every time Mark attributes direct speech to a character, it's because
0:02:45 > 0:02:48they very much want to affect other people they are talking to.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51I know you told me not to get involved in other people's
0:02:51 > 0:02:53business, but Mrs Shears is a friend of ours.
0:02:53 > 0:02:54She's not a friend any more.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57The first thing I did, was really simple,
0:02:57 > 0:03:01was I went through the novel, and every time a character spoke,
0:03:01 > 0:03:03I typed that out to create a very,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06very rough sketch of a draft of a play.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08- Have you got a ticket?- No.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10Well, how, precisely, do you expect to get to London then?!
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Another thing that I did, was I went through the book
0:03:13 > 0:03:16and just listed all the events that happened.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20- WOMAN READS: - "Mother died two years ago."
0:03:22 > 0:03:25"I came home from school one day and no-one answered the door,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28"so I went and found the secret key that we keep under a flower
0:03:28 > 0:03:30"pot outside the kitchen window."
0:03:30 > 0:03:31One of the challenges of the book
0:03:31 > 0:03:33was that Mark's very playful with time.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36He goes backwards and forwards in time, and he's unpredictable
0:03:36 > 0:03:39about when he's going to go forwards and when he's going to go
0:03:39 > 0:03:42backwards, and that presents challenges to the dramatist.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44"An hour later, father came home from work."
0:03:44 > 0:03:47- Christopher, have you seen your mum?- Nope.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50"He went downstairs and started making some phone calls."
0:03:50 > 0:03:53I was faced with the possibility of re-ordering the chronology
0:03:53 > 0:03:56and going right from the beginning to the end of the story,
0:03:56 > 0:03:59and for a while, I really thought about doing that.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01I decided in the end that would be a mistake.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04I'm afraid you won't be seeing your mother for a while.
0:04:06 > 0:04:07Why not?
0:04:09 > 0:04:11Your mother has had to go into hospital.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14I think the reason Mark plays with chronology is because he wants to
0:04:14 > 0:04:17create a more truthful perception of what it's actually like to
0:04:17 > 0:04:19feel like Christopher Boone.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21"The next day was Saturday,
0:04:21 > 0:04:23"and there was not much to do on a Saturday
0:04:23 > 0:04:25"unless Father takes me out somewhere on an outing
0:04:25 > 0:04:28"to the boating lake or to the garden centre."
0:04:28 > 0:04:32Mark Haddon deliberately didn't explain or describe who
0:04:32 > 0:04:36Christopher was, but everything is seen through Christopher's
0:04:36 > 0:04:38eyes in a very gentle way.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42I think I would make a very good astronaut.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44I think theatre can only ever be in the third person.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48Mark's great genius was creating a first person voice that people
0:04:48 > 0:04:52could really relate to. The stage doesn't work like that.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55What I had to do was to find a way of making Christopher's voice
0:04:55 > 0:05:00dramatic, so making that voice about somebody behaving,
0:05:00 > 0:05:04and the way into that was through Siobhan.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06"The word 'metaphor' means carrying something
0:05:06 > 0:05:10"from one place to another."
0:05:10 > 0:05:13Siobhan is, in the book, she is Christopher's teacher,
0:05:13 > 0:05:16and I think a very good teacher.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20She then, in the play, becomes the narrator for some of the time.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24"The first main reason is that people do a lot of talking
0:05:24 > 0:05:26"without using any words."
0:05:26 > 0:05:28I made the decision that Siobhan should be
0:05:28 > 0:05:30the narrator of Christopher's book.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33It was important that Christopher's narration is revealed somehow, but
0:05:33 > 0:05:36I didn't want to break the rules of Mark's book, and one of the
0:05:36 > 0:05:39rules of Mark's book is that Siobhan gets to read Christopher's book.
0:05:39 > 0:05:44This is good, Christopher! It's quite exciting.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46She gets stuff that Christopher doesn't get,
0:05:46 > 0:05:49and the book works for us as a reader,
0:05:49 > 0:05:51because we get stuff that Christopher doesn't get,
0:05:51 > 0:05:54and she's the bridge through that dramatic irony.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58"There was no-one else near me for thousands and thousands of miles!"
0:05:58 > 0:06:01She's a really invaluable dramatic character.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05For me she became the fulcrum of the entire adaptation.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09"And I put my hands round the sides of my face so I can't see the fence
0:06:09 > 0:06:14"or the chimney or the washing line, and I can pretend I'm in space!"
0:06:14 > 0:06:15ORCHESTRAL SWELL
0:06:39 > 0:06:42"My name is Christopher John Francis Boone.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46"I know all the countries of the world and their capital cities,
0:06:46 > 0:06:51"and every prime number up to 7,507."
0:06:51 > 0:06:54Christopher Boone is a remarkable human being.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56He has a massive imagination
0:06:56 > 0:07:01and a massive comprehension of the universe and science and maths.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04Then, they worked out the universe was expanding,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07that all the stars were rushing away from one another after the Big Bang.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10The further the stars were away from us, the faster they were moving,
0:07:10 > 0:07:13some of them nearly as fast as the speed of light.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15Things like numbers and maths
0:07:15 > 0:07:19and sciences are definite concrete things which he can understand.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22- I bet you're very good at maths, aren't you?- I am.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24I'm going to take A-level maths next month
0:07:24 > 0:07:28- and I'm going to get an A*.- Really? A-level maths?- Yes.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31Christopher is incredibly sharp in some ways,
0:07:31 > 0:07:35but in other ways he's quite immature, I suppose, or undeveloped.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38I have a grandson your age.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42My age is 15 years and three months and three days.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44Well, almost your age.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48He's never been outside of his street on his own ever.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51He goes to school on a school bus that picks him up
0:07:51 > 0:07:52and drops him off at home.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56In the bus on the way to school we passed four red cars in a row.
0:07:56 > 0:08:01- Four?!- So today is a good day. - Great. I am glad.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04Humans are very puzzling to him whereas animals aren't, which is
0:08:04 > 0:08:07why he's very upset about the dog's death at the top of the show.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10He understands animals, he doesn't understand humans.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13I don't always do what I'm told.
0:08:13 > 0:08:14Why?
0:08:14 > 0:08:17Because when people tell you what to do, it is usually confusing
0:08:17 > 0:08:19and does not make sense.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22For example, people often say "be quiet",
0:08:22 > 0:08:26but they don't tell you how long to be quiet for.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29He finds it very hard, for instance, to look at people's faces
0:08:29 > 0:08:32because he finds facial expressions very hard to understand.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35"Siobhan says that if you raise one eyebrow it can mean
0:08:35 > 0:08:38"lots of different things.
0:08:38 > 0:08:43"It can mean, 'I want to do sex with you'." I never said that!
0:08:43 > 0:08:46- Yes, you did!- I didn't use those WORDS, Christopher.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50Yes, you did, on September 12, last year at first break.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54Part of my job role is working with people on the autistic spectrum,
0:08:54 > 0:08:58and Christopher demonstrates quite a number of characteristics
0:08:58 > 0:08:59of the autistic spectrum.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03So, for example, he finds it very difficult to be touched,
0:09:03 > 0:09:07and he can't predict when somebody's going to do something
0:09:07 > 0:09:10and therefore it becomes a shock.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14He needs routine, and if something changes, that makes him very anxious.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17I think there's someone out there on the platform looking for you.
0:09:17 > 0:09:24- I know.- Well, it's your look out. - 103, 107, 109, 113.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26He has a relationship with maths.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29It's what he finds comforting, it's what he turns to
0:09:29 > 0:09:35when he's stressed, I suppose a bit like a comforting blanket.
0:09:35 > 0:09:40- 223, 227, 229.- Coming!
0:09:40 > 0:09:42We all did a lot of research, actually,
0:09:42 > 0:09:46about the condition that Christopher might have.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50We went to various schools and talked to various teachers
0:09:50 > 0:09:56and talked to a lot of kids who had Asperger's syndrome.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00I'd go in and speak to the kids or watch from the back of a classroom
0:10:00 > 0:10:04as they were having an art class, and that was just so useful to me.
0:10:05 > 0:10:11Everybody is so individual on that spectrum,
0:10:11 > 0:10:18that our job, really, was to be true to Christopher,
0:10:18 > 0:10:24what was happening for Christopher and what was right for him.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27This water, this rain, has evaporated, actually,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30from somewhere like maybe...the Gulf of Mexico maybe,
0:10:30 > 0:10:32or Baffin Bay, and now it has fallen in front of the house,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35and then it will drain in the gutter and then it will flow to a sewage
0:10:35 > 0:10:38station where it will be cleaned, and then it will go into a river
0:10:38 > 0:10:40and then it will go back into the ocean again.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42One of the challenges that I faced
0:10:42 > 0:10:45was developing Christopher's character.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48For me, that came not necessarily through what Christopher was
0:10:48 > 0:10:51saying, but what the characters were doing to one another.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53Sharing your life with other actual human beings.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58By watching Ed Boone, for example, who is Christopher's Dad,
0:10:58 > 0:11:00share a space with Christopher,
0:11:00 > 0:11:04and the way Ed moves and the way Ed behaves around him,
0:11:04 > 0:11:09by showing how difficult it is for Ed to touch Christopher,
0:11:09 > 0:11:11just those little physical moments allow us
0:11:11 > 0:11:15an insight into Christopher that Christopher can't allow us
0:11:15 > 0:11:19into because he can't identify those emotional experiences.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23I think Christopher's character does change throughout the book.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26- WOMAN'S VOICE:- Please use assistant's phone opposite,
0:11:26 > 0:11:27right of the ticket office.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31The whole process of him going to London and having to be brave
0:11:31 > 0:11:36and having to overcome that most terrifying of journeys, I think,
0:11:36 > 0:11:40leaves him at the end, especially when he gets his A-level result,
0:11:40 > 0:11:42I think it leaves him thinking that, actually, you know what?
0:11:42 > 0:11:45Anything is possible, and going on that huge journey to
0:11:45 > 0:11:49London, I think, has been something which has given him courage.
0:11:49 > 0:11:53- I got an A*.- Ooh! Oh! That's just...
0:11:53 > 0:11:56- That's terrific, Christopher!- Yes.
0:11:57 > 0:11:58AUDIENCE LAUGHTER
0:11:58 > 0:12:03- Aren't you happy?- Yes, it's the best result.- I know it is.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28- What do you fancy for chow tonight? - Baked beans and broccoli.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31Yeah, I think that can be very easily arranged.
0:12:31 > 0:12:37He's a hard-working, loving father, although he has difficulty, I think,
0:12:37 > 0:12:42translating that into how you might expect a father to love their son.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44Going to put those shelves up in the living room
0:12:44 > 0:12:45if that's all right with you.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48I'll make a bit of a racket, I'm afraid, so if you want to
0:12:48 > 0:12:51watch the television, we're going to have to shift it upstairs.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53- I'll go and be on my own in my room. - Ah-ha, good man.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55Ed's got in his mind that he's a single dad
0:12:55 > 0:12:56and he's going to do this.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58He's trying to enjoy his son who he can't communicate,
0:12:58 > 0:13:01he can't hold him, can't play football with him,
0:13:01 > 0:13:05can't enjoy him as maybe the son he thought he would have.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07They do still have a relationship where
0:13:07 > 0:13:11they still know how to communicate affection the little that they
0:13:11 > 0:13:13can by the touching of fingertips.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19I could see the Milky Way as we drove towards the town centre.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21He loves his son so he'll make it the best he can.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24So, he's running a business, holding down a home, looking after
0:13:24 > 0:13:27Christopher, and I think that's all fairly straightforward until now.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30How many times do I have to tell you, Christopher?
0:13:30 > 0:13:32Keep your nose out of other people's business!
0:13:32 > 0:13:34I think Mr Shears probably killed Wellington.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38I will not have that man's named MENTIONED IN MY HOUSE!
0:13:38 > 0:13:41Christopher's relationship with his dad is quite strained,
0:13:41 > 0:13:45probably not unlike a lot of 15-year-old boys with their fathers,
0:13:45 > 0:13:48and he's going through puberty and his hormones are raging.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50Why not?
0:13:50 > 0:13:53And he also has Asperger's,
0:13:53 > 0:13:56so there's kind of more challenges on top of that as well.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59I asked you to do one thing for me, Christopher, ONE THING!
0:13:59 > 0:14:02I didn't want to talk to Mrs Alexander! If Mrs... Ah!
0:14:02 > 0:14:04The relationship is kind of more volatile,
0:14:04 > 0:14:06because Ed, I think,
0:14:06 > 0:14:09feels he needs to close this down and regain control,
0:14:09 > 0:14:14because in order for Ed to survive and keep things manageable,
0:14:14 > 0:14:16he has to have control, is how he feels.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18No!
0:14:18 > 0:14:22You do see him hit Christopher. He's obviously a volatile man.
0:14:26 > 0:14:32As the play, or the book, develops, they come to a crisis point,
0:14:32 > 0:14:38I suppose, and it comes to a head and it explodes in a horrible way.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43When he finds out that his mother was still alive,
0:14:43 > 0:14:46and all these letters that his dad's been hiding from him,
0:14:46 > 0:14:47then that changes everything.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49I don't know what to say. I...
0:14:52 > 0:14:53I was in such a mess.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56I said she was in hospital because I didn't know how to explain,
0:14:56 > 0:14:58it was so complicated, and...
0:14:59 > 0:15:01Once I said it I couldn't change it, it just...
0:15:03 > 0:15:04HE SMIRKS
0:15:06 > 0:15:09I think Ed did that, not just selfishly
0:15:09 > 0:15:12because of the humiliation of the mother having had an affair and
0:15:12 > 0:15:15leaving, but how do you explain that to an autistic boy,
0:15:15 > 0:15:19that their mother can't be there any more because she can't do it?
0:15:19 > 0:15:21So apart from his own anger and frustration...
0:15:23 > 0:15:26..with the mother, I think it was also to cushion the boy.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29But it's just turned into an ugly mess.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31I'm going to have to touch you, but...
0:15:32 > 0:15:34..it's going to be all right.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36I don't believe that he's a malicious man.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39I think he's a frustrated man and a wounded man.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44For me it was really important that Ed wasn't a bad guy.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48He was a human, he was struggling, he was doing his best.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50Sometimes he did a really, really bad job as a father,
0:15:50 > 0:15:53but, you know, every father who's ever lived, at times,
0:15:53 > 0:15:56has done a really bad job at being a father.
0:16:00 > 0:16:01You also see a bit of evolution afterwards,
0:16:01 > 0:16:05cos I think you see Ed coming round to understanding that this
0:16:05 > 0:16:07isn't just a lad he needs to control,
0:16:07 > 0:16:10and he finds new respect for him and a love for him that's open,
0:16:10 > 0:16:13and he tries to live more mutually with him.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16Now, you have to learn to trust me and...
0:16:18 > 0:16:19I don't care how long it takes,
0:16:19 > 0:16:23if it's a minute one day and two minutes the next and three minutes
0:16:23 > 0:16:26the next, if it takes years, I don't care, because this is important.
0:16:26 > 0:16:28This is more important than anything else.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52"Mother died, two years ago."
0:16:53 > 0:16:57"I came home from school one day and no-one answered the door."
0:16:57 > 0:16:59Christopher hasn't seen his mum in two years,
0:16:59 > 0:17:03and he has been told that his mum died of a heart attack.
0:17:03 > 0:17:09So the very first time we hear about the mum is in a memory that he
0:17:09 > 0:17:14has before she died, when he was at a beach in Cornwall.
0:17:14 > 0:17:15- Christopher!- Mother said...
0:17:15 > 0:17:21Over here! Christopher! Look! It's lovely!
0:17:21 > 0:17:24And she jumped backwards and disappeared under the water,
0:17:24 > 0:17:26and I thought a shark had eaten her and I screamed.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28And then she stood up out of the water
0:17:28 > 0:17:30and came over to where I was standing
0:17:30 > 0:17:33and held up her right hand and spread out her fingers like a fan.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36Come on, Christopher. Touch my hand.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38They had a really good relationship.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42Then she obviously went through a period of sort of depression,
0:17:42 > 0:17:46I think, and not coping very well with having a young boy with
0:17:46 > 0:17:48autism, and she left.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51Because I often thought I couldn't take it any more.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55And your father is really patient but I'm not.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58I get cross even though I don't mean to.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03So he's not known about what she's been doing for the last two years.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05Dear Christopher...
0:18:06 > 0:18:10I'm sorry it's been such a very long time
0:18:10 > 0:18:12since I wrote my last letter to you.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15The audience meets Judy through her letters.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19You only know this woman through her words.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22Also, we've moved into a new flat at last,
0:18:22 > 0:18:24as you can see from the address.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27It's not as nice as the old one, and I don't like Willesden very much,
0:18:27 > 0:18:30but it's easier for Roger to get to work.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34I think the relationship between Judy and Christopher is probably
0:18:34 > 0:18:38more complex than a lot of mother-son relationships.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40You haven't written to me yet,
0:18:40 > 0:18:44so I know that you are probably still angry with me.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48I'm sorry, Christopher.
0:18:50 > 0:18:51But I still love you.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54I hope you don't stay angry with me for ever,
0:18:54 > 0:18:57and I'd love it if you were able to write me a letter.
0:18:57 > 0:19:02She is a mother who can't cope and who takes an opportunity to
0:19:02 > 0:19:07get herself out of the family situation when it arises.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09And now...
0:19:09 > 0:19:13I have...lots of time.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17She then has to deal with he overwhelming guilt
0:19:17 > 0:19:21and shame that she feels for having left her son.
0:19:23 > 0:19:24I was not a very...
0:19:26 > 0:19:28..good mother, Christopher.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32Maybe if things had been different...
0:19:32 > 0:19:35Maybe if you'd been...
0:19:36 > 0:19:40..different, I might have been better at it.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42Left, right, left, right, left, right...
0:19:42 > 0:19:45There comes the point where Christopher arrives in London.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47You weren't in so I waited for you.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50When she first sees him, she wants to grab him and hold him,
0:19:50 > 0:19:52that's her instinct and you see that happen on stage,
0:19:52 > 0:19:53and he just pushes her away.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56- Christopher!- Uh!
0:19:56 > 0:19:58And I think that's the main difficulty, that in a sense,
0:19:58 > 0:20:03she has to sit back on a natural maternal instinct
0:20:03 > 0:20:08and try to be less emotional, but she's a very emotional woman.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12- Where's your father, Christopher? - I think he's in Swindon.
0:20:12 > 0:20:13Thank God for that.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16- How did you get here? - I came on the train.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18Oh, my God, Christopher, I didn't think...
0:20:21 > 0:20:23Why are you here on your own?
0:20:24 > 0:20:28When they meet it should be perfect
0:20:28 > 0:20:31and there's a moment for Judy where she thinks maybe
0:20:31 > 0:20:33it is going to be perfect.
0:20:33 > 0:20:38Will you let me help you get your clothes off?
0:20:40 > 0:20:44I can get you a clean T-shirt and you can get yourself into bed.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52But then, of course, there's the reality of this boy
0:20:52 > 0:20:56being in this different life with her and Roger in London,
0:20:56 > 0:20:59and it falls apart very, very quickly.
0:20:59 > 0:21:05Christopher, if you drink 200 mil then I'm going to put a bronze star
0:21:05 > 0:21:06on your chart.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09- I don't believe this! - Roger, for God's sake, please.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14If you drink 400 mil, then you get a silver star.
0:21:14 > 0:21:15ROGER LAUGHS
0:21:15 > 0:21:17And if you drink 600 mil, you get...
0:21:17 > 0:21:19A gold star!
0:21:19 > 0:21:21Well, that's very original, I have to say.
0:21:21 > 0:21:22Roger, stop it.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24You're not helping!
0:21:24 > 0:21:29You see Judy realised that the only choice she has, in actual fact, is
0:21:29 > 0:21:31to go back home and be with her son,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34and find a way to look after Christopher.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36Right, you come downstairs...
0:21:36 > 0:21:40you bring Toby, and you get into the car.
0:21:40 > 0:21:45- Into Mr Shears' car?- That's right. - Are you stealing the car?
0:21:45 > 0:21:46I'm just borrowing it.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50- Where are we going?- Going home.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11What you've written so far is just...
0:22:11 > 0:22:15- Well, it's great. - It's very short.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19- Well, some very good books are very short.- Like what?
0:22:19 > 0:22:20Like...
0:22:22 > 0:22:27- Like Heart Of Darkness.- Who wrote heart of darkness?- Joseph Conrad.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30'Siobhan is, I think, a very good teacher,'
0:22:30 > 0:22:35she...gets him in a way that probably nobody else does.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38I think Christopher's relationship with Siobhan is probably the
0:22:38 > 0:22:41most important in the book, and she is, for him,
0:22:41 > 0:22:43a kind of guiding light, really.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46Father said I was never to mention Mr Shears' name in our house again
0:22:46 > 0:22:47and that he was an evil man,
0:22:47 > 0:22:50and maybe that meant he was the person who killed Wellington.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53Christopher, I think you should do what your father tells you to do.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57We decided, for dramatic purposes, that Siobhan had only
0:22:57 > 0:23:01entered his life after his mother had so-called "died".
0:23:01 > 0:23:03Red cars in a row.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06'The first proper scene between them
0:23:06 > 0:23:09'is just after he's brought up the fact in the story that
0:23:09 > 0:23:14'his mother had died, so someone else steps into the role, in a way.'
0:23:14 > 0:23:15Who's Wellington?
0:23:15 > 0:23:18Wellington is a dog that used to belong to my neighbour,
0:23:18 > 0:23:21Mr Shears, but he is dead now because somebody killed him
0:23:21 > 0:23:23by putting a garden fork through him, and I found him,
0:23:23 > 0:23:26then a policeman came and thought I'd killed him, but I hadn't.
0:23:26 > 0:23:27Then he tried to touch me so I hit him
0:23:27 > 0:23:29and I had to go to the police station.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33She properly does love Christopher, really love him.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35But she knows that she is no use to him, really,
0:23:35 > 0:23:37if she allows that to take over.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39She's got to be a really good teacher
0:23:39 > 0:23:42'and that means also being a little bit removed
0:23:42 > 0:23:46'because she needs to really be able to look at his future
0:23:46 > 0:23:49'and look at his life and see what he's capable of
0:23:49 > 0:23:50'and what he's not.'
0:23:50 > 0:23:52Well, we're meant to be writing stories today.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54'She's very honest with him.'
0:23:54 > 0:23:59She, I think, respects him, and she talks to him like a human being.
0:23:59 > 0:24:00I can help you.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03Will you help me with the spelling and the grammar and the footnotes?
0:24:03 > 0:24:07She then, in the play, becomes the narrator for some of the time.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09"I counted out the letters.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11"There were 43 of them.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16"They were all addressed to me in the same handwriting."
0:24:16 > 0:24:21And then she gets so in tune with him that she actually becomes him
0:24:21 > 0:24:22at times.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25I think I would make a very good astronaut.
0:24:28 > 0:24:29Yes, mate, you probably would.
0:24:29 > 0:24:34To be a good astronaut you have to be intelligent, and I'm intelligent.
0:24:34 > 0:24:40'I would like to describe her as his soul, or his imagination.'
0:24:40 > 0:24:43And I'm good at understanding how machines work.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47'I think the big challenge for Siobhan, in the play, is
0:24:47 > 0:24:49'finding out exactly when she's Siobhan,
0:24:49 > 0:24:52'when she's the narrator, and when she's Christopher,
0:24:52 > 0:24:54'and making very definite choices about that.'
0:24:56 > 0:24:59Well, I could pretend I'm in space!
0:24:59 > 0:25:05And all I could see would be stars and stars are the places where the
0:25:05 > 0:25:10molecules that life is made of were constructed billions of years ago!
0:25:29 > 0:25:33For me, it's a novel about how you live with other people.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35It's about family, it's about love,
0:25:35 > 0:25:38it's about how you articulate love, it's about the importance
0:25:38 > 0:25:43of being honest, it's about the difficulty of truthfulness.
0:25:44 > 0:25:45Your mother has died.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50She's had a heart attack.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53'Is lying ever kind?'
0:25:53 > 0:25:57Is it ever cruel to tell the truth,
0:25:57 > 0:26:00or actually is being truthful the most human
0:26:00 > 0:26:03and the most important thing that we can do to one another?
0:26:03 > 0:26:05I don't know what to say. I...
0:26:09 > 0:26:11I was in such a mess, I said she was in hospital
0:26:11 > 0:26:15because I didn't know how to explain it, it was complicated.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19It's a story about family, it's a story about parenting,
0:26:19 > 0:26:22and about being a child, and I think the family in this show,
0:26:22 > 0:26:26and all the characters in this try really hard to survive in not
0:26:26 > 0:26:28always the easiest world.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31This is my house too, in case you've forgotten.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33- What, is your fancy man here as well?- Don't do that!
0:26:33 > 0:26:35CHRISTOPHER DRUMS AND CHANTS
0:26:35 > 0:26:39It is about difference and about how different we are
0:26:39 > 0:26:42in seeing life from different perspectives.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46The way Mark Haddon has done that quite fantastically is to go to
0:26:46 > 0:26:48a perspective that we don't normally get
0:26:48 > 0:26:51and have the main protagonist be autistic Asperger's.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54I like looking at the rain.
0:26:54 > 0:26:55Terrific.
0:26:55 > 0:26:56I like it because it makes me
0:26:56 > 0:26:59- think how all the water in the world is connected.- Does it?
0:26:59 > 0:27:02This water, this rain, has evaporated actually from somewhere
0:27:02 > 0:27:05like maybe the Gulf of Mexico, or maybe Baffin Bay,
0:27:05 > 0:27:07and now it has fallen in front of the house
0:27:07 > 0:27:09and then it will drain into the gutter,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12and then it will float to a sewage station, where it will be cleaned,
0:27:12 > 0:27:14and then into a river and then back into the ocean again.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18It relates to a lot of us all the time, I think.
0:27:18 > 0:27:23We all spend many hours of our lives feeling perplexed by why other
0:27:23 > 0:27:26people are behaving in a way that they are behaving.
0:27:26 > 0:27:2873, 79, 83...
0:27:28 > 0:27:30Argh!
0:27:30 > 0:27:31..89, 97.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35You scared the life out of me, can I just get my bag?
0:27:35 > 0:27:39And it's a very humanist way of looking at those moments.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41Reverend Peters is going to invigilate.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43It's only an exam, I can ring the school.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46We can get it postponed, you can take it some other time.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48I can't take it some other time, it's been arranged!
0:27:48 > 0:27:51'You look at Christopher and you enter his world'
0:27:51 > 0:27:55and you understand it and it's not so different to our world.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58'Yes, he has lots of difficulties,
0:27:58 > 0:28:02'but we can all relate to some of those difficulties.'
0:28:02 > 0:28:04I wonder if you can understand any of this.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06I know it will be difficult for you.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09I thought what I was doing was the best for all of us.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13'Everybody is desperately trying to understand each other,'
0:28:13 > 0:28:16and obviously Christopher is an extreme version of that
0:28:16 > 0:28:18because he finds communication quite difficult.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20I want to go to London.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25- Single or return? - What does "single or return" mean?
0:28:25 > 0:28:27Do you want to go one way or do you want to come back?
0:28:27 > 0:28:29I want to stay there when I get there.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32The story that we're watching is the story of a family.
0:28:33 > 0:28:38'And most families have times where it's difficult for them'
0:28:38 > 0:28:44to communicate, look after each other, be truthful with each other.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47It will get better, I promise. Now, you don't
0:28:47 > 0:28:50have to say anything, not right now, but you have to think about it.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54I suppose that's what the book and the play reminds us of.
0:29:12 > 0:29:16I said that I wanted to explain to you why I went away.
0:29:16 > 0:29:18'The audience meets Judy through her letters'
0:29:18 > 0:29:23so you only know this woman through her words.
0:29:23 > 0:29:28Now I have...lots of time.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31When you read the letters in the book
0:29:31 > 0:29:35it could be quite flat because it's just the written word.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37When you put a human being into those letters
0:29:37 > 0:29:40and you have her walk on stage and be in the same space as her son,
0:29:40 > 0:29:43'you can see what it costs her to write those letters.'
0:29:43 > 0:29:50So I'm sitting on the sofa here with this letter and the radio on, and...
0:29:52 > 0:29:54..I'm going to try and explain.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57'The tension's building because although they are not speaking'
0:29:57 > 0:30:02to each other, he's coming closer to his real mother on stage,
0:30:02 > 0:30:04saying this letter.
0:30:04 > 0:30:07That became very interesting - that he's getting physically
0:30:07 > 0:30:09nearer to her with this train track, not looking at her,
0:30:09 > 0:30:11engrossed in the train track.
0:30:11 > 0:30:13You grabbed the chopping board, threw it,
0:30:13 > 0:30:15and it hit my foot and broke my toe.
0:30:15 > 0:30:16'So it was highly emotional.'
0:30:16 > 0:30:20I couldn't walk properly for a month. Do you remember?
0:30:20 > 0:30:22And your father had to look after you.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24And I remember looking at the two of you and seeing you together
0:30:24 > 0:30:27and thinking how you were really different with him.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30- Much calmer.- It made me so sad.
0:30:30 > 0:30:34Because it was like you didn't need me at all!
0:30:34 > 0:30:37'It's a real build. Those moments of intensity, for me,'
0:30:37 > 0:30:41were about the characters all inhabiting the same space,
0:30:41 > 0:30:43seemingly not communicating,
0:30:43 > 0:30:48but being more honest and open than they ever could be in real life.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51- He's really angry.- He said I couldn't talk to you!
0:30:51 > 0:30:53And I didn't know what to do!
0:30:53 > 0:30:54He said I was being selfish
0:30:54 > 0:30:57and that I was never to set foot inside the house again!
0:30:57 > 0:31:02In a book that is about dishonesty and betrayal, and death and love
0:31:02 > 0:31:06and thwarted love, I think what you really need is a bit of playfulness.
0:31:06 > 0:31:10Where is 451c Chapter Road, London, NW2 5NG?
0:31:12 > 0:31:15LAUGHTER
0:31:15 > 0:31:20A-Z of London, £2.95, are going to buy it or not?
0:31:20 > 0:31:23I think that is what brings to play to life, really. You can't have
0:31:23 > 0:31:26a whole play or a whole book where it's tense and it's horrible
0:31:26 > 0:31:29and it's depressing because no-one is going to care about
0:31:29 > 0:31:30any of the characters.
0:31:30 > 0:31:31I'm going to say something to you
0:31:31 > 0:31:35and you must promise not to tell your father that I told you this.
0:31:35 > 0:31:36You have to make people laugh
0:31:36 > 0:31:40and you have to make people enjoy themselves and enjoy the characters
0:31:40 > 0:31:42they're watching otherwise they won't care about
0:31:42 > 0:31:44the dramatic moments.
0:31:44 > 0:31:49Your mother, before she died, was very good friends with Mr Shears.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53- I know.- No, Christopher, I'm not sure that you do know.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56I mean, they were VERY good friends.
0:31:56 > 0:31:59Very, very good friends.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03Do you mean they were doing sex?
0:32:03 > 0:32:05Yes, Christopher, that is what I mean.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08I think because my adaptation was very loyal to the book,
0:32:08 > 0:32:11a lot of the comedy that underpins the tragedy comes
0:32:11 > 0:32:14directly from Mark's writing, it comes from his dialogue,
0:32:14 > 0:32:17it comes from his observations.
0:32:17 > 0:32:19I think maybe what I brought to it was
0:32:19 > 0:32:22a sense of the playfulness of the theatricality.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25Get the Tube to Willesden Junction or Willesden Green,
0:32:25 > 0:32:27it's got to be near there somewhere.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29What is a Tube?
0:32:29 > 0:32:31LAUGHTER
0:32:31 > 0:32:33Are you for real?
0:32:33 > 0:32:35It takes the audience a bit of time before they realise
0:32:35 > 0:32:38they're allowed to laugh, between it being very sad
0:32:38 > 0:32:42and very emotional and very tense, and other times when it's quite
0:32:42 > 0:32:46quirky and fun because Christopher sees things in a different way.
0:32:46 > 0:32:49You see the big staircase with the escalator?
0:32:49 > 0:32:53I think the comedy comes from Christopher's very logical way
0:32:53 > 0:32:54of looking at the world and...
0:32:54 > 0:32:58I mean, one of the things Christopher says is
0:32:58 > 0:33:01when he's asking Reverend Peters where heaven is.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04It's another kind of place altogether.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06There isn't anything outside our universe, Reverend Peters,
0:33:06 > 0:33:08there isn't another kind of place altogether.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11'Nearly all of the laughs, every night on stage,'
0:33:11 > 0:33:14they're really, very rarely, coming from someone trying to be funny.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17They are coming from places of misunderstanding between two
0:33:17 > 0:33:22people or people's points of view being completely at crossroads.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26If heaven was on the other side of a black hole then dead people
0:33:26 > 0:33:28would have to be fired into space on a rocket to get there
0:33:28 > 0:33:30and they aren't or people would notice.
0:33:30 > 0:33:32LAUGHTER
0:33:54 > 0:33:57I think physical theatre is a very dynamic way of exploring
0:33:57 > 0:34:01a subtext within any kind of context.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04If you think of everyday life, people just sitting opposite each other
0:34:04 > 0:34:08talking, there are the words, but there's also the body language.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12And that's just at a naturalistic level.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16It actually embraces a whole range of dynamic choreography.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19It can explode into dance.
0:34:20 > 0:34:24It just shows, often, what's existing underneath - the aches,
0:34:24 > 0:34:28the desires, the needs, that aren't expressed verbally.
0:34:29 > 0:34:31I asked Scott and Steve to get involved
0:34:31 > 0:34:33because I knew it would be very physical
0:34:33 > 0:34:37and because we wanted to make it emotional and poetic,
0:34:37 > 0:34:42and interesting, without it being realistic.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45So that means that we show things in a way that is physical rather
0:34:45 > 0:34:48than somebody actually walks through the door, or puts
0:34:48 > 0:34:52the key in the door, and opens it and puts the key on the side.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55You actually do something which is much more gestural.
0:34:55 > 0:34:58I let myself into the house and wiped my feet on the mat.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01I put my keys in the bowl on the table and I took my coat off and
0:35:01 > 0:35:04hung it by the side the fridge so it would be ready for school
0:35:04 > 0:35:05the next day.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09It's always helpful when a writer is prepared to be very ambitious.
0:35:09 > 0:35:14Simon really wanted that immediacy and economy that physicality
0:35:14 > 0:35:19could provide, and he didn't want to go into a whole world of exposition.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21I waited for nine more minutes but nobody else came past,
0:35:21 > 0:35:23and the train was really quiet
0:35:23 > 0:35:25and I did not move again, so I knew the train had stopped.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28Because we're dealing with a very particular mind,
0:35:28 > 0:35:33what Mark Haddon does brilliantly is take his reader into that mind...
0:35:33 > 0:35:36There is a village in the distance which has 31 visible houses...
0:35:36 > 0:35:40..and so this production had to bring this audience into the mind
0:35:40 > 0:35:44of Christopher Boone so we had to see the world from his point of view.
0:35:44 > 0:35:49And know that there was no-one else near me for thousands
0:35:49 > 0:35:50and thousands of miles.
0:35:55 > 0:36:00'Finding that physical language, which is slightly topsy-turvy,'
0:36:00 > 0:36:05is a wonderful sort of way of transmitting the kind of mind
0:36:05 > 0:36:08'that Christopher has, which is brilliant
0:36:08 > 0:36:10'and a very imaginative mind.'
0:36:10 > 0:36:12And one of them was mother.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16You've got to be really bold and quite brave
0:36:16 > 0:36:19because when someone is saying to you "be a chair" or "a light",
0:36:19 > 0:36:22you do feel to begin with that you're looking slightly foolish.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26But because everybody was doing the language it works.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29What happens with that is that you then are seeing the world, hopefully,
0:36:29 > 0:36:31through Christopher's eyes.
0:36:31 > 0:36:35"I switched on my bedroom light and played six games of Tetris
0:36:35 > 0:36:39"and got to level 38 which is my fourth best ever score."
0:36:39 > 0:36:43I knew that the boy playing Christopher would need to be
0:36:43 > 0:36:47a very physical actor and be able to express things
0:36:47 > 0:36:51physically in a way, again, that he possibly can't articulate verbally.
0:36:56 > 0:37:01As an actor, he's got to be in control of every moment
0:37:01 > 0:37:04of his physicality on stage and Luke embraced that.
0:37:10 > 0:37:15It is a surprisingly difficult thing to achieve quite simple
0:37:15 > 0:37:18movements because they have to be very exact,
0:37:18 > 0:37:20and it has to be properly thought out,
0:37:20 > 0:37:23it has to be on exactly the right beat.
0:37:23 > 0:37:25One of the brilliant things about having Frantic
0:37:25 > 0:37:28on board was that they were able to bring some very pragmatic
0:37:28 > 0:37:31solutions to quite particular problems - getting
0:37:31 > 0:37:33from Swindon to Paddington train station.
0:37:35 > 0:37:39It was awful to read on the page. It was just a list of words.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42It's just advertising slogans
0:37:42 > 0:37:44and what's overheard here and there.
0:37:44 > 0:37:48- Sweet Pastries.- Heathrow Airport, check-in here.- Bagel Factory.
0:37:48 > 0:37:53My instinct, I think, initially, was it's not going to work.
0:37:53 > 0:37:57We had to resist getting lost in the randomness of the words.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00Excellence and Taste.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03When we first started learning some of the physical sequences,
0:38:03 > 0:38:07it was surprising how hard it was, it was a lot of practice.
0:38:07 > 0:38:11There's just the sequence where we walk around Swindon and Christopher
0:38:11 > 0:38:14is feeling out of his depth because everyone else seems to be in step.
0:38:14 > 0:38:18Just those simple moves, everything's on a beat of five
0:38:18 > 0:38:20and constantly turning, it looks easy.
0:38:20 > 0:38:25It was horrendously difficult to actually get in our bodies
0:38:25 > 0:38:29so that you can do it without looking like you're counting
0:38:29 > 0:38:32or worried about crashing into somebody behind you.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36- Stationlink.- Buses. - WH Smith.- Mezzanine.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39That scene could have been a disaster.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42We had to really focus on him and appreciate what it must be like,
0:38:42 > 0:38:45how terrifying to have that sensory overload.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51And what you have at the end of it is like an odyssey, you know.
0:38:51 > 0:38:53He's completely exhausted.
0:38:53 > 0:38:55- Here, get up, man.- Oh!
0:38:55 > 0:38:59And it seems absolutely right because this was never
0:38:59 > 0:39:02a journey for someone like us, this was a journey for a boy who's
0:39:02 > 0:39:06never left Swindon, who sees the world in a very, very different way.
0:39:06 > 0:39:12Right, left, right, left, right, left, right...
0:39:33 > 0:39:37There's a huge amount of characters in the play.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41I think probably there's something like 30 different characters.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44Many of whom say one thing.
0:39:44 > 0:39:45- 59, 61...- Oh!
0:39:45 > 0:39:47'There's a pragmatic question'
0:39:47 > 0:39:50about how do you cast that?
0:39:50 > 0:39:52You could get 30 different actors,
0:39:52 > 0:39:56but I became quite excited by the notion of creating
0:39:56 > 0:39:59an ensemble of different characters
0:39:59 > 0:40:03and creating the possibility of the audience seeing actors take on
0:40:03 > 0:40:07and take off different hats and take on and take off different characters.
0:40:07 > 0:40:09- He could be our elf mascot! - Come on!
0:40:09 > 0:40:14When you've got the same actor who plays the Reverend Peters...
0:40:14 > 0:40:16Well, it isn't actually in our universe...
0:40:16 > 0:40:18..playing a policeman...
0:40:18 > 0:40:19Don't even... Look...
0:40:19 > 0:40:23'..that's quite playful. 'It's quite silly, it's quite fun.'
0:40:23 > 0:40:24Park yourself!
0:40:24 > 0:40:28'I think what you really need is a bit of playfulness.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31'And it's something we brought to the theatricality
0:40:31 > 0:40:32'by creating the ensemble.'
0:40:32 > 0:40:33Christopher!
0:40:33 > 0:40:35'Because you're part of the ensemble,'
0:40:35 > 0:40:37there was never a moment when you
0:40:37 > 0:40:39felt you weren't involved in the piece.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42You're on stage pretty much the whole time and you have a challenge,
0:40:42 > 0:40:46which is flipping very quickly from one person to the next.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48You have to make a very quick impression with
0:40:48 > 0:40:50each of the characters.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53'Some of them only appear for a matter of moments.'
0:40:53 > 0:40:57Through the underpass and up the stairs. You'll see the signs!
0:40:57 > 0:41:02It always felt slightly strange to be looking at Christopher on the train.
0:41:02 > 0:41:04For me, I found it quite hard thinking, "What am I now?
0:41:04 > 0:41:07"I'm not his mother now, I'm just someone on a train."
0:41:07 > 0:41:10Most other people are lazy. They never look at everything.
0:41:10 > 0:41:12They do what is called glancing.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17What we are creating is scenes that are recognisable by a group
0:41:17 > 0:41:20of actors all working together to create a moment.
0:41:20 > 0:41:24If we all just march along in the same way, it would
0:41:24 > 0:41:27not be as effective. So you make choices.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31On the train I decide that my character would listen to
0:41:31 > 0:41:33headphones, so I'm listening to music on the train.
0:41:33 > 0:41:37When I'm in the street I'm perhaps slightly aggressive because I'm late.
0:41:39 > 0:41:45So you have to make choices to make those ensemble characters live
0:41:45 > 0:41:48and be as real as you can, even though you're really
0:41:48 > 0:41:50a part of what could be a crowd.
0:41:50 > 0:41:52And that's how you make it effective.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55They have to click in and click out of scenes,
0:41:55 > 0:41:59so you can see them sitting on the side as an ensemble member,
0:41:59 > 0:42:01just focusing the previous scene.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03And then they stand up and they are in the middle of a very,
0:42:03 > 0:42:06very emotional scene as their character.
0:42:06 > 0:42:07That's hard to do.
0:42:07 > 0:42:09Judy, look, I'm sorry, OK?
0:42:09 > 0:42:10You should have thought about that
0:42:10 > 0:42:12before you made me look a complete idiot.
0:42:15 > 0:42:20I think the stylised, ensemble nature of this production is...
0:42:20 > 0:42:22is important, because it's all
0:42:22 > 0:42:24about Christopher's take on the world.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28Nothing really exists unless Christopher wants it to.
0:42:28 > 0:42:30So the company will be chaos.
0:42:30 > 0:42:33They will be flitting around until Christopher focuses
0:42:33 > 0:42:35and they will snap into position.
0:42:35 > 0:42:36Right...
0:42:40 > 0:42:41Is this London?
0:42:42 > 0:42:46They represent his thoughts and they can be chaotic
0:42:46 > 0:42:49and they can be absolutely pure and linear and precise,
0:42:49 > 0:42:51whatever state of mind he is in.
0:43:10 > 0:43:12I knew the station was somewhere near.
0:43:12 > 0:43:16And if something is near you can find it by moving in a spiral.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19Walking in a clockwise direction, taking every right turn
0:43:19 > 0:43:21until you come to a road you've already walked on.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25'The design had to be a piece of imagination.'
0:43:25 > 0:43:30The more realistic you made it, the more domestic and clunky and...
0:43:32 > 0:43:37..heavy it felt. It has to be light and agile and highly imaginative.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40Over here! Christopher! Look!
0:43:40 > 0:43:42'Very early on,'
0:43:42 > 0:43:45we talked quite a lot about setting it
0:43:45 > 0:43:50as if it's in the school hall of the school that Christopher is at.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53Because quite a lot of the scenes happen at Christopher's school.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57And then quite quickly, when Marianne and I were working on it,
0:43:57 > 0:44:02we wanted to make it more abstract than that, so we wanted to make it
0:44:02 > 0:44:05as if we were inside Christopher's head,
0:44:05 > 0:44:07as if we were in his imagination.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10In order for that to feel comfortable for Christopher,
0:44:10 > 0:44:14it was clear that had to be somewhere that was very ordered
0:44:14 > 0:44:16and very clean and mathematical.
0:44:18 > 0:44:23Show that a triangle with sides can be written in the form n2 + 1...
0:44:23 > 0:44:27'When I was doing the design, I went and bought the A-level papers
0:44:27 > 0:44:29'and took a lot of the diagrams'
0:44:29 > 0:44:33and the grids and looked at some of the questions.
0:44:33 > 0:44:38So a lot of the design came directly from A-level maths.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40Siobhan says that
0:44:40 > 0:44:43if you raise one eyebrow it can mean lots of different things.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46'The design was on two levels.'
0:44:46 > 0:44:49One was, in the book he describes himself as being a little bit
0:44:49 > 0:44:53like Sherlock Holmes, in that his brain was
0:44:53 > 0:44:57a bit like a laboratory in which he could come to some sort of solution.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00So that was very much how I decided to design the show,
0:45:00 > 0:45:03like a laboratory of his brain.
0:45:03 > 0:45:07And the other thing was that the first half of the show
0:45:07 > 0:45:11is like a kind of whodunit, because that's what his book is initially.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15So we also wanted to make the design a bit like an incident board
0:45:15 > 0:45:19in a crime room in a police station.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22I only know one person who didn't like Mrs Shears and that is
0:45:22 > 0:45:25Mr Shears, who divorced Mrs Shears and went to live somewhere else.
0:45:25 > 0:45:29And who knew Wellington very well indeed.
0:45:29 > 0:45:33This means Mr Shears is my prime suspect.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36'It's used like a bit of graph paper, actually.'
0:45:36 > 0:45:40So the projections that are projected onto it are his diagrams,
0:45:40 > 0:45:41or his workings out.
0:45:43 > 0:45:46Inside Christopher's head, we can go anywhere then,
0:45:46 > 0:45:51so we can shoot of into the atmosphere, amongst the stars.
0:45:52 > 0:45:57So the set really had to be able to be lots of different places
0:45:57 > 0:46:00and feel like lots of different places.
0:46:00 > 0:46:05"Because imagining an apple in someone's eye doesn't have
0:46:05 > 0:46:07"anything to do with liking someone a lot."
0:46:07 > 0:46:11'He jumps timelines, so he goes back and forth in time.'
0:46:14 > 0:46:16I'm sorry.
0:46:16 > 0:46:20And he goes from one scene and jump-cuts to the middle of another scene.
0:46:20 > 0:46:24And we needed to do that in a very agile way.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27Christopher, I think you should do what your father tells you to do.
0:46:27 > 0:46:32- What happened to you the other day? - Which day?
0:46:32 > 0:46:36I came out again and you'd gone. I had to eat all the biscuits myself.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39- I went away.- I gathered that!
0:46:39 > 0:46:43If you had a set trundling on of a realistic kitchen
0:46:43 > 0:46:46and doing a realistic set
0:46:46 > 0:46:49and then the set trundling off and suddenly we are in a garden,
0:46:49 > 0:46:53you wouldn't be following him at the speed that his brain goes.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56Maybe we should take a little walk in the park together.
0:46:56 > 0:46:59This is not the place to be talking about this kind of thing.
0:47:03 > 0:47:05'You're really creating an environment
0:47:05 > 0:47:08'where the story can be told clearly,'
0:47:08 > 0:47:10and that's all got to happen quite fluidly
0:47:10 > 0:47:13and poetically in front of people's eyes.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16So the whole evening makes sense
0:47:16 > 0:47:21and moves the way that the director wants the story to be told.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24- I decided to go out on my own. - THEY GROAN
0:47:27 > 0:47:31When you talk about lighting design, really, I felt
0:47:31 > 0:47:34the lighting shouldn't describe a place, because the lighting
0:47:34 > 0:47:37was just what Christopher saw, and what Christopher saw
0:47:37 > 0:47:41I always saw as being very kind of cool, white and controlled.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45So we don't use colour or warmth or anything like that.
0:47:45 > 0:47:48We are very specific about when places change and when they don't.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50BELL RINGS
0:47:50 > 0:47:52CHRISTOPHER GRUNTS
0:47:52 > 0:47:54Reverend Peters, where is heaven?
0:47:55 > 0:47:58'In a way, Curious moves like the inside of Christopher's head,
0:47:58 > 0:48:02'so it has to be lots of changes in the lighting all the time,'
0:48:02 > 0:48:03because it's as busy as he is.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09We talked a lot about it feeling like it's Christopher's brain
0:48:09 > 0:48:13and that the company, the rest of the actors who are within that,
0:48:13 > 0:48:16are almost like microbes of his brain.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19They're like energy systems that are whizzing around
0:48:19 > 0:48:21and bouncing off the walls.
0:48:21 > 0:48:26So that the whole set has to feel like it's another character.
0:48:27 > 0:48:31We designed every scene before we went into rehearsal.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34And we did a storyboard with models and photographed every scene.
0:48:34 > 0:48:39So we knew how every scene should look and should be staged.
0:48:43 > 0:48:48The model box is really, really vital, unlike a computer animation.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51When I go and visit the builders, we can pick it up,
0:48:51 > 0:48:55we can make things work on it. We've got it in our hands.
0:48:55 > 0:48:58We can turn it around, we can look at it as we are working on it.
0:48:58 > 0:49:03The painters work directly from the model box.
0:49:03 > 0:49:07So they match exactly my colours and design
0:49:07 > 0:49:1025 times bigger.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19And there's a kind of a kit for the show
0:49:19 > 0:49:24and everything that we need to tell the story is there within that kit.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29The props are clearly displayed, the actors are clearly displayed.
0:49:29 > 0:49:31Some of them never leave the stage.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34They are sort of hopefully taking the audience with them
0:49:34 > 0:49:37on this highly imaginative, suggestive...
0:49:37 > 0:49:42stylised way of telling Christopher's story.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05Left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right...
0:50:05 > 0:50:08It's interesting how quite often with a show, the way you make
0:50:08 > 0:50:15the show and the tools you use are reflected in the sort of show it is.
0:50:15 > 0:50:16So with Christopher,
0:50:16 > 0:50:20we sort of said that the theatre was like the inside of his head.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23When I put my hands around the sides of my face...
0:50:23 > 0:50:27'What we wanted to do was put all the things that are available
0:50:27 > 0:50:29'to us - video projectors and the lights and things -
0:50:29 > 0:50:32'we wanted to make alive in that space.'
0:50:32 > 0:50:33LAUGHTER
0:50:33 > 0:50:35It's lovely!
0:50:35 > 0:50:38And she jumped backwards and disappeared under the water...
0:50:38 > 0:50:40'The sound, the lights,'
0:50:40 > 0:50:46the music, we all have to be almost orchestrating ourselves together
0:50:46 > 0:50:49so that everything we are doing is...
0:50:49 > 0:50:51we're all doing the same thing at the same moment.
0:50:51 > 0:50:55I spent two or three weeks in rehearsals with Marianne
0:50:55 > 0:50:56and the company.
0:50:56 > 0:51:00I don't get to do any lighting, but I can watch and I can understand it.
0:51:00 > 0:51:03I can track the story that we need to keep alive for the audience.
0:51:05 > 0:51:09In the rehearsal room, you don't have all the magic of the lighting
0:51:09 > 0:51:10and the projection.
0:51:10 > 0:51:12It's just very raw, you know.
0:51:12 > 0:51:17And as a composer you have to imagine in your mind's ear
0:51:17 > 0:51:20and eye what that's going to translate into.
0:51:20 > 0:51:25The brilliant thing about rehearsal is that it's all about trying.
0:51:25 > 0:51:27When I'm in rehearsal, what I do is,
0:51:27 > 0:51:29I work out where I want all the lighting cues to go
0:51:29 > 0:51:31so I'm not wasting time when I'm there looking for it.
0:51:31 > 0:51:33Is this train going to London?
0:51:33 > 0:51:35I just go, "Right, this is what we're doing.
0:51:35 > 0:51:37"Is Mrs Shears up-stage?"
0:51:37 > 0:51:38Christopher...
0:51:38 > 0:51:41In a way, Curious moves like inside of Christopher's head,
0:51:41 > 0:51:44so it has to be lots of changes in the lighting all the time
0:51:44 > 0:51:46because it's as busy as he is.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49And I could pretend I'm in space!
0:51:49 > 0:51:52And all I could see was the stars!
0:51:53 > 0:51:57'With a show like this, I think there's a very real danger'
0:51:57 > 0:52:01that music could be used to sort of get too sentimental.
0:52:01 > 0:52:05It would be so easy just to say we could do some bits of music
0:52:05 > 0:52:08that would say how sad it was to be Christopher.
0:52:08 > 0:52:10Which would be the wrong thing to do.
0:52:10 > 0:52:13Well, we decided it was the wrong thing to do.
0:52:17 > 0:52:22One of the things that came about was that Christopher really likes maths.
0:52:22 > 0:52:24..Pythagoras's theory...
0:52:25 > 0:52:30And machines, and things that he knows he can control.
0:52:30 > 0:52:31And so of course that's great
0:52:31 > 0:52:35for somebody like me as a composer, because I can pick up on...
0:52:35 > 0:52:37"Ah, he likes maths, he likes machines.
0:52:37 > 0:52:42"How can we use those concepts to build a score,
0:52:42 > 0:52:44"to build a piece of music with?"
0:52:44 > 0:52:48Open your paper, Christopher, and you may begin.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53And I thought, "Right, we're going to use free computer-y sounds,
0:52:53 > 0:52:55"bleeps and that sort of stuff."
0:52:55 > 0:52:57STACCATO BEEPING
0:53:01 > 0:53:04Two, three, five, seven, eleven.
0:53:04 > 0:53:08'One thing we were constantly trying to look for with the play'
0:53:08 > 0:53:10was a sense of Christopher controlling things
0:53:10 > 0:53:12until they got out of control.
0:53:12 > 0:53:13I can help you.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16Will you help me with the spelling and the grammar and the footnotes?
0:53:16 > 0:53:21And lights moving very carefully and picking things out of darkness.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26And then things kind of get too much for him and it becomes less safe.
0:53:26 > 0:53:29And visually playing games with that.
0:53:31 > 0:53:33Is this train going to Willesden Junction?
0:53:33 > 0:53:37I don't necessarily make a shift to do with the emotional temperature.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41It's more to do with places where he feels safe and where he doesn't.
0:53:41 > 0:53:43I mean, it's interesting when he's in his mother's house.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46We put him in a very tight box of light.
0:53:46 > 0:53:51And the dark, monsters can come from there, and Mr Shears
0:53:51 > 0:53:56being outside, it's finding a way to make the situation make sense.
0:53:56 > 0:54:00There are obvious really tense and crucial moments
0:54:00 > 0:54:02when he's found the letters.
0:54:04 > 0:54:08When he finds out that his dad killed Wellington.
0:54:08 > 0:54:13"Father had murdered Wellington! That meant he could murder ME!"
0:54:15 > 0:54:18Those are really crucial emotional moments,
0:54:18 > 0:54:23and we really did want to make something happen.
0:54:23 > 0:54:26Lighting can be like painting.
0:54:26 > 0:54:28It can achieve times of day,
0:54:28 > 0:54:31it can achieve emotional heightened moments.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34It can achieve all sorts of different things.
0:54:34 > 0:54:36"I could to make them let me take Toby.
0:54:38 > 0:54:40"But if they didn't let me I would still go,
0:54:40 > 0:54:42"because it would be a dream come true."
0:54:42 > 0:54:45I don't think the audience will ever read that overtly.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48I just hope that they are aware that there is a particular...
0:54:48 > 0:54:49there is a different atmosphere.
0:54:49 > 0:54:51So the book is finished.
0:55:11 > 0:55:14You can only kill a dog if A)...
0:55:14 > 0:55:18'When we first did the show at the National, we were in the round'
0:55:18 > 0:55:20and it was a very small theatre
0:55:20 > 0:55:22with the audience completely surrounding us.
0:55:24 > 0:55:28A lot of the audience were either on the stage or looking down on it.
0:55:28 > 0:55:31So you were looking down on his world,
0:55:31 > 0:55:33very much a part of his world.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36This means Mr Shears is my prime suspect.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40The great thing about being in the round is you don't have to
0:55:40 > 0:55:42worry about looking out, you don't need to
0:55:42 > 0:55:45worry about where you're facing, so you feel very free as an actor.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48What's interesting about that is it feels very real.
0:55:48 > 0:55:52The audience felt they were completely in the room with us.
0:55:52 > 0:55:54It was very, very intimate.
0:55:54 > 0:55:58We could see everybody and we could see the emotion on their faces,
0:55:58 > 0:56:01whether they were laughing or crying or shocked or surprised.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04- Did you mean to hit the policeman? - Yes.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07He didn't mean to hurt the policeman.
0:56:07 > 0:56:08When we went to the West End,
0:56:08 > 0:56:12we realised that we were going to transfer into a theatre which was
0:56:12 > 0:56:16a proscenium arch, so we were looking at it end-on.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19"It can mean, 'I want to do sex with you.'"
0:56:19 > 0:56:21I never said that!
0:56:21 > 0:56:25- Yes, you did.- I didn't use those words, Christopher.- Yes, you did.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28On September 12 last year at the first break.
0:56:28 > 0:56:32'I think we were all a bit sceptical about whether it would work.
0:56:32 > 0:56:34'But then when we really looked at it'
0:56:34 > 0:56:36we tried to make a virtue of the fact that actually,
0:56:36 > 0:56:39from the audience's point of view in the West End,
0:56:39 > 0:56:42you see Christopher and you see him in his box.
0:56:42 > 0:56:46So you may not actually be inside it in the same way as you are
0:56:46 > 0:56:48when it's staged in the round,
0:56:48 > 0:56:53but you are very aware of him in his context.
0:56:53 > 0:56:56"I find people confusing."
0:56:56 > 0:56:58I found it, as the narrator,
0:56:58 > 0:57:03quite difficult to connect with everybody in the auditorium
0:57:03 > 0:57:06in the round, because inevitably
0:57:06 > 0:57:09there were about 100 people behind me.
0:57:09 > 0:57:11So in terms of story-telling,
0:57:11 > 0:57:14I find it easier to do it in a bigger space.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17"I started by looking in the kitchen.
0:57:17 > 0:57:21"Then I detected in the utility room."
0:57:21 > 0:57:25'It's rather nice to be able to put Christopher inside his total
0:57:25 > 0:57:27'encapsulated world.'
0:57:27 > 0:57:32A kind of cube that is the set. It feels very satisfying, I think,
0:57:32 > 0:57:35and Christopher is sort of the centre
0:57:35 > 0:57:37of that kind of Rubik's Cube of his brain.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40We had walls, which we didn't have when we were in the round,
0:57:40 > 0:57:43we had a back wall as well and side walls.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46We then started to make use of those.
0:57:46 > 0:57:47No smoking!
0:57:49 > 0:57:51'We recognised that pretty much all the choreography
0:57:51 > 0:57:56'would have to change. It was quickly apparent that it was an opportunity'
0:57:56 > 0:57:58to make things potentially bigger
0:57:58 > 0:58:00and better and to change the focus slightly.
0:58:00 > 0:58:04And, going into a bigger venue, it had to be more dynamic.
0:58:06 > 0:58:09We were taking the same cast into that new venue,
0:58:09 > 0:58:12and they had grown in that time, so they were itching...
0:58:12 > 0:58:16They were ready to do something bigger and better,
0:58:16 > 0:58:18so it was an absolute joy.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21It gives us the ability to do things we couldn't do before -
0:58:21 > 0:58:24climbing up walls, jumping off walls, spinning off walls.
0:58:24 > 0:58:26There's lots of things which opened up by being proscenium.
0:58:31 > 0:58:34Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd