There’s a curious incident happening at Liverpool Empire this week

Critically acclaimed production The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time opens at our Liverpool Empire tonight (Tuesday 25th July) and runs until this Saturday (29th)

The show is adapted from Mark Haddon’s best-selling book by Simon Stephens and directed by Marianne Elliott.  

National Theatre producer Kash Bennett said: ‘We were overwhelmed by the enthusiastic  reception from audiences around the UK and Ireland when we toured The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in 2014-15, playing to almost 400,000 people, and are delighted to take this beautiful and inventive show to new venues and make a return visit to others in 2017.’

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time received seven Olivier Awards in 2013, including Best New Play, Best Director, Best Design, Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design and five Tony Awards on Broadway including Best Play.  

The show tells the story of Christopher Boone, who is fifteen years old.  He stands beside Mrs Shears’ dead dog, which 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 murdered 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.

Some more fun facts about the show:

• The original National Theatre production opened in September 2012
• By 3 June 2017, Curious Incident will have played over 1,600 performances and been seen by over 1 million people in London, and almost 2 and a half million people world-wide
• The Broadway production opened in September 2014, where it ran until September 2016
• A US tour opened in Rochester, NY in September 2016 and continues through to September 2017, taking in cities which include Washington DC, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles

• The first tour of the UK and Ireland was seen by almost 400,000 people, and ran from December 2014 to November 2015
• 956,938 people saw a live production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time in 2015-16
• The second tour of the UK and Ireland begins at the Lowry in Salford on 21 January 2017 and continues through to September 2017
• Curious uses 3 pieces of chalk for every performance (so 1,248 a year in London, and 969 on the show’s tour of the UK and Ireland). There are always two pieces on standby each performance
• The role of Christopher Boone has been played by 18 actors since the show opened in 2012 Luke Treadaway, who originated the role at the National Theatre received an Olivier Award for Best Actor for the role and Alex Sharp won the Best Actor Tony Award® for originating the role on Broadway.

• The idea for the light up dots or pixels in the floor was based on the film The Matrix!
• 23 universes of data were used to control the lighting and video rig
• All the music in the show is based on prime number sequences
• The very opening of the show counts out a 2-3-5-7 rhythm using sounds that are based on prime numbers frequencies

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time runs at the Liverpool Empire until Saturday 27th July. Book your tickets and get more info here .