CURIOUS INCIDENT Selfie from Samantha D.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has many features exclusive to British culture that may seem different to Americans or those of other nationalities. One aspect I found particularly interesting was the role and functionality of neighborhoods and those who live in them. Compared to the one I live in, the neighborhood of Christopher Boone (Graham Butler) represented in The Curious Incident seemed to be for the most part more close-knit and personal, and although there are some similarities between English neighborhoods and my own in regards to trust, there are also many differences.

The play brings into question the relationship between neighbors. Even though Mrs. Alexander doesn’t appear to know Christopher personally very well when she is first introduced in the play, she still invites him inside for tea and biscuits and consistently tries to help him. He protests that she is a stranger, and he is not allowed to talk to strangers. Her reply is that she is not a stranger, but a friend—even though they have just met. This is an exchange that continues for the rest of the play, and brings to mind a question: are neighbors friends or strangers? Mrs. Alexander appears to think it makes them friends, because she has seen Christopher walk to school every day and has a clear view of his bedroom window from her home. But Christopher does not seem to recognize her, and thus considers her a stranger in his mind. Americans seem to be torn on this issue, as well; some parents will tell their children not to talk to their neighbors unless it is an emergency, while other parents have no issue with their children exploring the neighborhood and talking to the people who live nearby. When I was growing up, there were certain people I could talk to, and the rest of the neighborhood was off-limits to me. Christopher does not seem to have this limitation. Additionally, this points back to an issue that I felt was an important part of the play: trust. Which neighbors are trustworthy, and which ones aren’t? My parents made that decision for me, but Christopher must determine this on his own.

The set itself begins to create the feel of community before any acting is done on behalf of the neighbors. The houses are displayed using LED lights and projections of the house numbers onto the open box used as the stage. The houses are close together physically, as well, which appears to be due not only to limited stage space, but also because that is how homes are situated in many English towns. This is quite different from my neighborhood; we tend to like to have a little bit of distance from our neighbors—so much so that most of us have built high fences and have quite a bit of extra space between our properties. Perhaps this is a part of the issue of trust; English neighbors might have more trust between them, so their “houses” (as representations of themselves) are closer together and have no walls.

This close proximity in physical space in English neighborhoods also leads to a closeness in emotional space. Many in the neighborhood already know about the death of Wellington, the dog, when Christopher does his “detective work” and asks his neighbors about the incident also seems to be common knowledge within the community that Christopher’s mother (Emily Joyce) and Mr. Shears (Daniel Casey) left because they had an affair. People whom Christopher has never even spoken to know his name and even a little bit about him, including Mrs. Alexander (Gay Soper) and No. 40 (Vivienne Ampcheampong). Christopher mentions having played with Wellington quite often, and no one seems to find this unusual. The set design also helps create this sense of community; the choice to use lights and house number projections in lieu of barriers and physical numbers make the houses seem much less separate and more like a common place for the neighbors. There is some of this togetherness to be found in American communities, but in my neighborhood, we tend to “mind our own business” and leave our neighbors to themselves.

There is also a sense of openness in Christopher’s community that, at least in my experience, is absent in America. Although some of Christopher’s neighbors appeared slightly standoffish, they cooperated and answered his questions for the most part. Walking up to neighbors’ houses and inquiring about a dog isn’t likely to receive a warm response in my neighborhood, not because my neighbors are rude, but because they value their privacy and like to remain unbothered. The stereotype of the English being more standoffish and less friendly than Americans is obviously broken here, as the opposite seems to be true.

There are some other similarities between American and English neighborhoods. “Outsiders” who don’t have much to do with the rest of the community are represented in the play, as well as the typical elderly lady, Mrs. Alexander. Both of these groups are also present in my community. There is also a sense of knowing everyone’s name; when Christopher goes to ask questions, he knows the name of every person in every house. This is also similar to my neighborhood because, although we may not speak to each other, we know everyone’s name.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time gives a good glimpse into the workings of a “typical” English neighborhood, which has some very large differences to American ones. In general, there appears to be a larger amount of trust and friendliness between neighbors in English communities, whereas American neighborhoods tend to be more isolated. The comparison between the two has helped me to change my views on how the English live and their relationships with those around them.