THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME Returns to Birmingham Hippodrome

Following a sell-out run in 2013, Birmingham Hippodrome has just announced the return of The National Theatre's Olivier and Tony Award-winning production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time from 3-8 July 2017.

Playing the central role of Christopher Boone are Birmingham born Sam Newton and Scott Reid (currently appearing in BBC1's comedy Still Game), with LuciAnne McEvoy as his teacher Siobhan, Emma Beattie as Judy, David Michaels as his father Ed, Debra Michaels as Mrs Alexander and Eliza Collings as Mrs Shears.

The company is completed by Oliver Boot (Roger Shears), Newcastle-upon-Tyne born and Bristol trained Crystal Condie (No.37/Punk Girl/Information), Pontypridd born Emma-Jane Goodwin (ensemble), Joel Harper-Jackson (MR Thompson), Leeds born and Stockport based Bruce McGregor (Reverend Peters), James Parkes (ensemble), Aberdare born and Pontypridd educated Jams Thomas (ensemble) and Danielle Young (ensemble).

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is adapted from Mark Haddon's best-selling book by Simon Stephens and directed by Marianne Elliott.The production is designed by Bunny Christie, with lighting by Paule Constable, video design by Finn Ross, movement by Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett for Frantic Assembly, music by Adrian Sutton and sound by Ian Dickinson for Autograph.The Associate Director is Manchester educated Elle While.

National Theatre producer Kash Bennett said: 'We were overwhelmed by the enthusiastic reception from audiences around the UK and Ireland when we toured The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in 2014-15, playing to almost 400,000 people, and are delighted to take this beautiful and inventive show to new venues and make a return visit to others in 2017.'

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time received seven Olivier Awards in 2013, including Best New Play, Best Director, Best Design, Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design and five Tony Awards on Broadway including Best Play.

The show tells the story of Christopher Boone, who is fifteen years old. He stands beside Mrs Shears' dead dog, which has been speared with a garden fork, it is seven minutes after midnight and Christopher is under suspicion. He records each fact in a book he is writing to solve the mystery of who murdered Wellington. He has an extraordinary brain, and is exceptional at maths while ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched and distrusts strangers. But his detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a frightening journey that upturns his world.

Mark Haddon is an author, illustrator and screenwriter who has written fifteen books for children and won two BAFTAs. His best-selling novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, was published simultaneously by Jonathan Cape and David Fickling in 2003. It won seventeen literary prizes, including the Whitbread Award. His poetry collection, The Talking Horse and the Sad Girl and the Village Under the Sea, was published by Picador in 2005, and his last novel, The Red House, was published by Jonathan Cape in 2012. His latest book is The Pier Falls, a collection of stories. He lives in Oxford.

Simon Stephens' other plays for the National Theatre include: The Threepenny Opera, Port (originally produced at the Royal Exchange and directed by Marianne Elliott) at the National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre, Harper Regan and On the Shore of the Wide World (co-production with Royal Exchange, Manchester: Olivier Award for Best New Play). His many other plays include Carmen Disruption, Heisenberg, Birdland, Blindsided, Three Kingdoms, Wastwater, Punk Rock, Seawall, Pornography, Country Music, Christmas and Herons; A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky (co-written with Robert Holman and David Eldridge); an adaptation of Jon Fosse's I Am the Wind and Motortown. His version of A Doll's House for the Young Vic transferred to the West End and then New York in 2014. Simon is an Associate at the Lyric Hammersmith and The Royal Court Theatre.

Photo by Brinkhoff Mögenburg

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