Jack Phillips 29.1.

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SECTION C
Read the following extract from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark
Haddon and adapted by Simon Stephens
From top page 98: SIOBHAN: Christopher. to page 100 (the end of the play).

In the space provided, draw your ground plan, for one stage type of your choice,
which illustrates your approach to stage design for the extract. In the space provided
underneath, fully explain and justify each design approach.
[40]
In your answers, you must:
- analyse and evaluate how any live productions you have seen during the
course have influenced your design choices.
- Consider
o Staging form, including audience positioning
o Set layout including entrances and exits
o Position of set and furniture
o Lighting

- Demonstrate understanding of the extract within the context of the whole text.

Ground Plan

Type of Stage ………………………………………Traverse Stage………………………………………

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My production of ‘Curious Incident’ would take place on a traverse stage with two raised
platforms at either end. On the far right hand side (on the floorplan) is the raised platform where
Siobhan’s classroom will be throughout the play. This is to clearly show the play and the play within
the play, which would all take place in the main stage space. The other platform, on the left, is where
all entrances and exits take place from as well as the moments of memory, for example when Judy
and Christopher are remembering the trip to the beach. I would place a large focus on the
technological elements of modern theatre, taking inspiration from the original practitioner Frantic
Assembly. My lighting rig would make use of beams across the stage and platforms to give the ability
for a complete wash as and when is necessary. I would have a full surround sound speaker system
and projectors on the roof pointing down to the ground. The key themes raised in this extract are
the ideas of being able to do anything and having belief in yourself, no matter what has come
before, and it of course is continuously raising awareness for people with autism.

I chose to put my production of ‘Curious Incident’ on a traverse stage taking inspiration

from the production of ‘The Railway Children’ at King’s Cross Station. That stage differs from mine
slightly in that in ‘The Railway Children’ they had a set of train tracks down the middle. To solve the
problem of having backs to audience members on a traverse stage in ‘The Railway Children’ they
were almost always facing side on to the audience facing either the left of right back walls. This
meant that anyone in the audience could see the action and facial expressions of the actors,
something which I feel is really important for ‘Curious Incident’ especially with Christopher and his
reactions to people through his face and movement. Therefore placing the two platforms at either
end of the stage in my production helps this as there can be lots of moment of dialogue between
two characters with one on the stairs and one in the main stage space, or between Siobhan and
Christopher in the classroom, where because of the raised platform at it being at the end of the
stage, the audience would be able to see a much more of the space and characters. This is useful in
this extract as most of the action takes place with Siobhan and Christopher in the classroom.

The set layout is very simple with two raised platforms at either end and one main stage
space in the middle. On the left side platform there are steps and ramps leading up and down
making it incredibly easy for set pieces to be moved from the storage space into the main stage
space. Therefore any entrances or exits for set pieces take place on the left side platform. However
the left side platform also provides an area for the actors to sit when not participating in a scene.
This is taking inspiration from ‘The Barbershop Chronicles’ where the actors all sat around the stage
throughout the production, which was symbolising the pressure on males to not open up about their
feelings and emotions. In Curious Incident, however, I would use it to place pressure on Christopher
with all these people watching him from this slightly raised platform. This also gives the chorus easy
and quick access to the stage for transitions or moments of chorus work, very important in keeping
with the Frantic Assembly style I would be looking to use for my production. At the start of the play
Siobhan would already be in place in the classroom on the right side platform and would stay there
for the entirety of the play, not needing to make any entrances or exits.

The classroom would be fully set and decorated throughout the play with tables, chairs,
and classroom posters on the back wall. This would create a warm and nice atmosphere for
Christopher as he feels most comfortable in the classroom with Siobhan. I would reflect this in the
lighting with a warm wash always being used for the classroom. In this extract I would look to do
that with a warm wash and the classroom set as throughout the play. In other moments of the play
LED lights above the main stage space provide the lighting with the ability for quick colour changes,

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strobe and other effects useful for showing Christopher’s two states, Chaos and Precision.
Furthermore any set pieces used in the main stage space would be kept to a minimum in keeping
with the Frantic Assembly style, while all set pieces would be on casters, again taking inspiration
from ‘The Barbershop Chronicles’. All set pieces in ‘The Barbershop Chronicles’ were on casters
making for quick and easy transitions between scenes. I would use this in ‘Curious Incident’ as it
would help keep in the Frantic Assembly style while providing quick changes between locations and
time, which is one of the biggest issues with Curious Incident, so using these casters would help with
this.

Using all these ideas would help me keep in the Frantic Assembly style, whilst also
helping display the messages and themes of the play, while creating the separation between the play
and the play within a play.