The dog it was that died...

My blog has mouldered long - partly due to the distractions of a PGCE and a new career and partly due to the paucity of noteworthy theatrical delights which have been its mainstay. An excess of film adaptations and musical adaptations of films has made the West End a rather uninspiring place of late.

So it was good to see something a little different in the shape of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time at the Gielgud. Of course, it's an adaptation too but at least in this case it's of a novel rather than a movie.

An unusual play in that despite the central 'murder mystery' of the slain dog it's really a character study, and of a very particular character - a 15 year old with autism - The Curious Incident benefits from an fantastic set which at first appears almost completely spartan but comes to life to the extent that it can convincingly represent an Underground station.

Graham Butler in the lead at first seems a little over-mannered (and a bit old for the part) but he manages to convince with his very energetic performance (no wonder he needs knee-pads). The rest of the cast are solid but this is really Butler's show - although a puppy threatens to steal it from him in the closing moments!