The Grand, Leeds/Touring
4 Stars

THE CURIOUS Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time became an unexpected bestseller when it was published in 2003.

A humorous, compassionate story about a teenage boy with behavioural problems  it became a set text for schoolchildren and won the Whitbread Book Award, though author Mark Haddon dislikes the Asperger’s label that appeared in the novel’s blurb.

Simon Stephens’s stage adaptation for the National Theatre, currently on tour, successfully reproduces the spirit of the novel in which Christopher Boone writes about his attempts to solve the killing of a neighbour’s dog being turned into a play by his kindly special needs teacher (Geraldine Alexander).

The theatrical device effectively captures the character of the troubled 15-year-old with its mixture of straight narrative and acted scenes. The deliberate staginess of some of the minor incidents — as when an ATM speaks seductively to Christopher — introduces moments of gentle humour while illustrating the confusion of language.

Powerfully brought to life by a cast of supporting actors, it’s nonetheless the poignant performance of Joshua Jenkins as Christopher that really steals the show.

The socially awkward maths whizz, who fears physical contact and the colour yellow, is portrayed as someone who constantly fidgets with the strings on his hoodie and who curls on the floor, moaning when he suffers from sensory overload.

This latter is most intensely portrayed during a scene in which he travels to London in search of his mother (Gina Isaac).

As he navigates the crowded Underground his distress is palpable as Bunny Christie’s versatile mathematical grid stage design is bombarded with projections of signage, billboards and tannoy announcements.

The effectiveness of the design, superb in realising the way Christopher views the world around him, makes it almost a character in itself.

Aided by digital lighting, a grid forms both the main locational props and the space onto which the teenager projects cascading numbers and equations to help him feel calmer.

The production loses momentum half-way through the second act, during which the behavioural issues of his broken family are contrasted with Christopher’s own difficulties.

Despite this blip, however, the creative team has created the right formula for a winning show.

Tours until November 21, details: curiousonstage.com