STRAIGHT from resounding success in the West End, Simon Stephen’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time has embarked on a UK tour. The play is now at the Bristol Hippodrome, but only until this Saturday (June 17).

Visually spectacular and brilliantly acted, the show is a poignant journey not to miss.

The Curious Incident is about the experiences of Christopher Boone (Scott Reid), a 15 year-old boy with Asperger Syndrome. But you won’t hear that phrase; the play is from his perspective and he doesn’t like labels that don’t say exactly what they mean.

Christopher sets out on a detective mission to find out who killed his neighbour’s dog, but he ends up uncovering many more hard truths than he intended.

While no single character can stand as a ‘correct’ representation of autism, hearing Christopher’s thoughts helps shed light on behaviours that appear incomprehensible to the uninitiated.

For all its serious themes, the show is unexpectedly humorous. Christopher’s hyper-logical mind has a way of exposing the ridiculousness of everyday conventions. While remarkably clever and full of maths, Christopher’s directness makes for easy consumption.

The play follows Christopher writing his novel, which is narrated in large swathes. As such the production is very true to the original book by Mark Haddon. However, a stage production has some unique advantages which add to the experience.

Director Marianne Elliott makes brilliant use of technology to create a visually-spectacular portal into Christopher’s mind. The boy’s ability to see the magical in the mundane comes to life, as does the chaos of when he is overwhelmed. The creative rolling transformation of the set, and the fluidity of actors between people and objects, adds to this sensation.

The stage adaption also allows greater portrayal of the simultaneous emotional journeys of the other characters, previously hidden behind Christopher’s socially-blind narration. Particularly stand-out is Lucianne McEvoy’s nuanced portrayal of Christopher’s teacher Siobhan, who perhaps understands him better than anyone else.

However, most of all, the story gives insight into the extraordinary bravery behind Christopher’s rather ordinary adventures. After we watch him overcome great obstacles, he triumphantly ponders “Does that mean I can do anything?” The show leaves the question open, but renders the audience desperately hoping, and believing, that yes, yes he absolutely can.