03/02/2017

A Curious Call

(beep)

Good evening future anna! how are you? I am quite well! thanks for asking.

anyway, this post is all about the show I went to go and see yesterday with granny. the show was something that I have wanted to see since I read the book a few years ago. it was THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT TIME!! the show is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS sold out, so when I saw a poster for the show, me and granny went on the case to get tickets to the Manchester set of shows. we got them!! and made a day out of the play, by getting to Manchester early, having lunch (had a cheese and onion panini which was top notch), walking around media city/bbc/itv, and getting to the theatre ready for the matinee. we also saw blue peter being set up to be filmed in the evening!


ok. I hadn't read the book since I had read it a few years before when I was lent it by granny after she had read it. this meant I couldn't fully remember the story, so me and granny had a little chat about it and what we could remember. I have always wanted to see the show as I was enchanted and inspired by the book, and have seen pictures online of the set which looks as good in person as it does online! I knew that it was quite a techy show before I walked into the room, but by going through the programme, I found out so much!

I don't even know where to start really but I am going to kinda review the show on 4 subjects: actors/characters, set/music/etc, overall show, and feelings afterwards. I hope this makes sense future anna.

  1. ACTORS/CHARACTERS
wow. at the end of the show I gave a standing ovation. I don't do this often, but the cast were incredible! I think I am going to use the word incredible a lot! anyway, I was literally blown away by the performances everyone gave, whether a main part or in the ensemble. something that I was really impressed with was the choreographic work (is that how you could say it??), which was devised by someone from the company Frantic Assembly who I discovered in college. their work is so incredible and really makes feelings come to life through movement. the cast were so put together, I don't think the show/movements could have been any better. everyone knew exactly what they were doing which makes me so so so happy. I can't pick a favourite character. obviously Sam Newton (his first show according to this tweet: https://twitter.com/curiousonstage/status/827132018668474368, and also shows more pics of the stage which I try and explain in the next point) who played the main part of Christopher was incredible and really made the book charcter come to life in ways I didn't think were possible. I also loved Lucianne McEvoy who played Siobhan. I think if I am ever in the play (probs won't be, let me know if you ever do though future anna!), I want to play Siobhan. She is so important to Christopher, and you could really, again, see the book character come to life. ok, you get it, I liked the whole cast, and if any of them are reading this, well done. you were all amazing!!!

    2.  SET/MUSIC/ETC

like I said, I knew the show was quite techy, and wow, I wasn't wrong. the show is set in Christopher's house, his street, the train station, and many other places, but all these places are created in a large light up box which is the stage. there will be a picture inserted somewhere which helps to explain it more. the character of Christopher loves science and math, so the neon lights often showed numbers and equations and things like that so we could kind of understand what was happening in Christopher's brain. there were so many sound ques and magical moments as well as scary things which really bought Christopher's fears to life. I thought these moments were incredible, but also made me really sad but I will explain that more in point 4. when Christopher was unsure and freaking out slightly at the train station, there were sounds like screeching trains, station announcements, advertisements, and lots of other things which were really loud, and these all went along with large neon images that flashed around the box. I can't really explain it but hopefully you remember what I mean future anna (and if you have tapped into this call, look it up on youtube or go and see the show!). I could go on forever and ever about the props and things but I won't because it will take forever to read/write/listen to this message! HOWEVER I will mention one thing. during the first half, Christopher puts together a train set which fills the whole stage, whilst he is talking to shivon. as you may know, Christopher goes to London on the train, and he decides to do this at the end of the first half, and by this point, the train set is complete AND LIGHTS UP AND STARTS MOVING TOWARDS LONDON LIKE WHAT I WAS FREAKING OUT IT WAS SO GOOD IF I WAS PLAYING CHRISTOPHER I WOULD BE HAVING A HEART ATTACK BECAUSE WHAT IF YOU SET IT UP WRONG AND IT DIDN'T GO AND YOU ENDED UP RUINING EVERYTHING?!?!?!? chill anna chill. it was incredible. that's all I will say. anyway, onto the next point...

   3.  OVERALL SHOW

so to comment on the overall show, I loved it. it was amazing and I am so glad that I was able to see it live because I have always wanted to see Christopher's world come to life. after studying drama for most of my life, I think I saw a few parts from a drama point of view, rather than an audience point of view which I liked as it meant I could analyse a few bits further to see how the characters felt, rather than just seeing an actor on stage. I think I have mentioned most of what I wanted to say about the show in the previous 2 points, but I will say that the highlight of the show for me was the ending when Christopher is explaining all that he has done to shivon and asking if he can do anything. in the book, I thought I was going to cry at the ending because it is so true. ANYONE CAN DO ANYTHING NO MATTER WHAT YOUR PROBLEMS ARE! EVEN YOU FUTURE ANNA! I can't wait to reread the book and be utterly in love with it again.

   4.  FEELINGS AFTERWARDS

I was kinda done talking about the show with the last 3 points but I decided to add this final topic because I walked away from the show with a few thoughts. we see the show from Christopher's point of view, and how he lives with Asperger Syndrome. he is 15 years old and very clever, which means he is going to sit his maths A-level. however in a lot of situations, he doesn't get the help he needs as people don't understand what is going on and just think he's stupid. this stresses me out because even 14 years after the book was written, we are still in this society where a lot of people don't get the help that they need which makes me really sad because I am an emotional person. even though a few things have changed, AND WE ARE IN 2017, we don't talk about disabilities, physical, and mental health because it is still classed as a taboo topic which annoys me so much. maybe one day everyone will be accepted and given the aid they need, and I will try my best to provide this even though a lot of the world won't.

incredible count: 6 (wow. that's a lot. at least it wasn't more)


I am still beaming with the fact that I was able to see the show with granny, and make her dreams come true of seeing the itv studios where they film coronation street. I hope when you are reading this future anna, that you have been able to see the show again and been able to reread the book a few more times. I am gonna stop typing now because this post is so long so enjoy your day future anna.

(beep)

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