As a winner of seven 2013 Olivier Awards and five 2015 Tony Awards, this play has a stigma of excellence surrounding it, and it certainly does not disappoint. It is hailed for so many things, but what excited me most about it was the set design. The play is carried out in a cube like stage baring a mathematical grid which is extremely versatile. Projectors were used to transform the stage into different settings quickly, whilst the actors seamlessly rearranged any props on stage. They turned a small space into an incredible set with an innovative design. Also I was worried that it might be hard to follow like the novel – as at times it became very complicated and overly mathematical in order to show how Christopher was thinking, but what had been previously confusing and hard to visualise was simplified which helped the audience to emote to Christopher's situation. Finally the use of physical theatre made this play stand out when compared to others I have seen due to how artistic it was, for example when Christopher opens a box of letters and each letter is slowly lifted away from the box so they appear to be floating.
I find it hard to offer any bad thoughts about the production, however the portrayal of Christopher's Asperger's has been criticised for being inaccurate and therefore making the audience ignorant to the character's true situation – however Haddon never claims to be an expert on the subject and keeps Christopher's mental problems ambiguous.
From this experience I have learnt that you do not need a large cast to create something engaging, and also the importance of lighting, as it focusses the audience on certain characters without being too obvious about it. I highly recommend this play – definitely above other West End productions as this play is truly unique. It did not lose the essence of the novel, and possibly even improves upon it. The technical creativity and set design made the experience like no other and I would definitely go again.
The ever popular Curious Incident! Such a classic story, and so few ever have a bad word to say about it. Good review - well detailed about the execution of the play. I feel like Haddon would've done the research about the portrayal of the Autistic Spectrum to pull off such a play. On the one hand, the portrayal of such a grey area condition can scarcely be nailed down. On the other hand, stereotypes about the condition are very much extrapolated for entertainment so perhaps what you say has merit...