In
comparing the book to the play before hand, I was a little nervous mostly
because I was not sure how the director, Marianne Elliott, was going to
approach such an interesting book. Both the book and the play address issues of
family life and understanding Asperger Syndrome. The reason that I thought the
play would be difficult to transfer from the novel to play form was because I
was not sure about how the play would adapt visually. The play does this
through the main character, Christopher Boone played by Graham Butler. The
viewer is brought into Christopher’s world through dramatic lighting and
creative choreography, which helps the viewer understand his thoughts and the
way his mind works. I also enjoyed how the characters would refer alluded to
the fact that they were in a play or to turn Christopher’s book into a play,
such as how Christopher solved the math problem in the exam. Overall, I enjoyed
the play and thought it was an interesting adaption from the book in terms of
how the book was adaptive. I also thought the idea of struggle and
understanding our place in the world was an important idea. Christopher’s
struggle to understand the world around him reflects this.
The
viewer was much drawn into Christopher’s world from the very beginning. The
dramatic lighting at the beginning of the play over the death of Mrs. Shears’
dog sets the mood of the play. The play begins with a narration from Siobban,
Christopher’s teacher, which comes from Christopher’s book about Wellington.
The viewer from this narration is brought into the creative world of
Christopher. The stage was set up in a grid formation in which Christopher used
in order to draw out emotions or explain thoughts. Christopher’s world is very
much visual and everything was explained through visuals and pictures.
Christopher’s
desire to solve the mystery of Wellington forces him to face his own fears.
Such as overcoming his fear of strangers or talking to Mrs. Alexander. When
none of the neighbors are can provide information about Wellington’s mysterious
death. Christopher turns to Mrs. Alexander for guidance in which she explains
the affair that Christopher’s mother had with Mr. Shears. Christopher’s father
holds out his hand in the first scene in the police station in order to
establish trust with Christopher. Christopher also does not like to be touched
and breaks down often.
The
discovery of the letters also plays an important role because they establish
key information. They provide information into Christopher’s family life and
there is a flashback to earlier events told by Christopher’s mother. The
letters also mention why Christopher’s mother had to go away and why she cannot
cope with her son’s disability. The letters are also more personable, because Judy
reads them. The viewers get to hear Judy’s voice, the inflection, and see the
frustrations that Judy is going through. The mother throughout the play seems
to be running away and using her affair as an escape from the problems facing
her family. For example, she leaves her husband because she is tired of the
arguments. She also leaves her son, because after the incident in the store she
does not know how to cope with how to handle her son. It is clear throughout
the play that she loves Christopher, but does not know to help him. Judy’s
selfishness becomes important through the flashbacks.
Throughout
the flashbacks she mentions wanting another life and wanting to escape from the
reality. Judy’s escape from reality struggles with understanding her place in
the world. Her move away from Christopher suggests that she is still finding
her place in the world. In a memory, Christopher recounts how his mother wished
to be somewhere else. During the last part of the play when Christopher comes
to London to live with her, she struggles with understanding of how to care
from her son that will not eat or talk to her. This struggle can be seen
through the body language of the mother.
Christopher’s
arrival into London seems to add stress into Judy’s life, while Christopher’s
relationship with his father becomes strained. The straining that is placed on
Christopher and his father comes from an argument over Christopher’s detective
work and the explanation that Christopher’s father out of anger from out about
the affair killed Wellington. While living in the flat with his mother,
Christopher’s father gets Christopher a puppy. The puppy’s role seemed very
experimental and the actions taken by the actors were dependent on the puppy’s
actions. I noticed that the puppy when placed on the ground sat down and was
playing with the leash. The puppy’s arrival represents healing among the
family. It also allows for the play to become full circle in terms of the play
starting with a dead dog and ends with a live dog.
The
grid like pattern of the stage played an important role, because there were no
individual rooms. The actors had to use the space for multiple spaces such as a
classroom or Christopher’s bedroom. The lighting on the grid played an
important role, because it divided up the space into boundaries such as all the
houses on Christopher’s street or the police station. The walls also closed in
during the train station to show the danger that Christopher had to face when
his rat decided to jump into rail tracks. The grid also showed Christopher’s
steps as he made his way through the train station. The grid also showed hidden
storage such as when Christopher was building the train set that alluded to his
future journey on the train. The choreography was very dance like and showed a
routine and order life that Christopher created for himself. The set and the use of choreography brings
the audience into Christopher world, thus allowing the audience to understand
Christopher’s place in the world.
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