The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time to tour secondary schools in Greater Manchester
Following the success of last year’s nationwide schools tour, a specially staged version of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time will be seen by 17 secondary schools across Salford, Wigan, Stockport and Rochdale in partnership with The Lowry this Autumn.
The tour forms part of the National Theatre’s drive to introduce new audiences to theatre, in a three-year partnership working with local theatres and schools. The tour will visit new schools in Greater Manchester as well as returning to schools previously engaged with as we continue to build relationships with them and introduce theatre to different age groups.
The tour will visit the following local schools from 18 November 2019:
• Pendleton Sixth Form College, Salford
• Moorside High School, Salford (hosting Co-op Academy Swinton)
• St Anne’s School, Rochdale
• Bedford High School, Leigh (hosting St Mary’s School)
• Buile Hill Academy, Salford
• Lowton C of E School, Wigan
• Hawkley High School, Wigan
• Albion Academy Salford
• St Edmund Arrowsmith High School, Wigan
• Fred Longworth High School, Wigan
• St Anne’s RC High School, Stockport
• Stockport School
• Kingsway Park High School, Rochdale
• Hopwood Hall College, Rochdale (hosting Cardinal Langley RC High School)
• Hollingworth Academy, Rochdale
The 90-minute version of the play is performed in the round and will be followed by a Q&A session for students with the professional company. The tour is accompanied by a learning programme which includes professional development for teachers led by the NT and Curious Incident movement directors Frantic Assembly, as well as curriculum-based resources and workshops.
Alice King-Farlow, director of learning at the National Theatre said, “The National Theatre is committed to increasing opportunities for students in Greater Manchester to see live theatre. Simon Stephens’ brilliant play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a fantastic first experience of theatre and we know from last year’s tour that seeing a live professional production in your own school hall can have real impact. We’re delighted that more students across Greater Manchester will experience the production in their school this year, and we’re working closely with The Lowry to engage with new audiences and to build relationships between schools and their local theatre.”
A teacher at Newman College in Oldham which was part of the schools’ tour last year said, “Our pupils had an amazing experience. The vast majority of our pupils do not get the opportunity to experience theatre unless we provide it. I am glad that today we were able to open their eyes to a new experience”.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time brings Mark Haddon’s best-selling novel to life on stage, adapted by two-time Olivier Award-winning playwright Simon Stephens and directed by Olivier and Tony Award®-winning director Marianne Elliott. The novel has won more than 17 literary awards and is widely studied in schools. Simon Stephens’ adaptation is a set text for GCSE English Literature.
The play tells the story of Christopher John Francis Boone, who is fifteen years old. He stands besides Mrs Shears’ dead dog, Wellington, who 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 killed 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.