Meet Judy and Mrs Alexander from ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’
This week, Year 11’s Lexi shared their thoughts on the upcoming performance of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time with us, as they joined us mid-rehearsal. Playing Christopher’s mother Judy, for those of you who don’t know the play – look away now – but for those of you that do, you’ll know that she is indeed alive and not dead as Christopher was told by his father. This presents challenges in terms of audience thoughts and feelings about this character that Lexi shared,
“Obviously the audience and Christopher believed his mother to be dead, and so when she’s introduced to the play, I’m aware there may be a lack of sympathy for her, but in reality she’s only been guilty of wanting what is best for her child. Christopher’s father Ed is more easy going that she is, and he coped better with the challenges of Christopher’s neurodiversity – she chose to leave because she believed it would be better for him than if she stayed.”
Lexi continued,
“I really want the audience to understand the character, I feel like it’s my job to make sure they don’t feel angry at her, and that will hopefully come through in the character I play.”
Miss Mayes, Head of Drama agreed, sharing,
“It’s very easy for the world to stigmatise a mother who leaves a child – it can immediately be perceived as worse than if a father leaves them. I have to say, all credit to the writers of this play, Christopher’s mother is never demonised, she’s simply recognised as any human being should be in that she has flaws. It’s a great part for Lexi to play, the challenges are welcomed as part of their development in Drama, on stage and in real life too – it’s a wonderful opportunity for students to see the world around them through different eyes.”
Talking about performing next week, Lexi said,
“I’m feeling really excited. I’ve performed in the past in the School musical, as part of the ensemble in Little Shop of Horrors, and I’ve always loved performing. On a recent trip to New York I watched Romeo and Juliet and it was just insane, there is something about watching Drama, I love it – it’s a huge passion of mine. The chance to be part of the production community is just brilliant, bonding with the other students has been really special – I’m excited for all of us!”
Reflecting on the weekend’s successful rehearsal, Miss Mayes talked through the scene, discussing the importance of the back story for each character, and how this needs to be reflected in the students’ acting. Christopher’s vulnerability and the understanding the other characters have of this is an important aspect of the scene they’re rehearsing in particularly and it’s vital the audience connects with that understanding that they all have. Talking through stage setting and student positions on stage are all important parts of rehearsals – especially discussing how scenes begin and develop, using emphasis through physical actions and voice, the audience ever-front of mind. In today’s scene, three characters are talking through a door to the fourth actor; this isn’t something that will be physically and visually represented, but can be done so using tone and projection of voice, as well as positioning on stage.
Although not rehearsing in this particular scene, we were delighted to be able to meet and speak with Year 10’s Annie, who plays Mrs Alexander, an elderly lady who lives on Christopher’s street. She’s a pivotal character in the play and in Christopher’s life, since she helps him investigate the death of his dog; she’s always kind and welcoming, and in Christopher’s life this is in contrast to what he perceives to receive from many others.
Sharing her thoughts on why she’s such an important character in the play, Annie said,
“Christopher can trust Mrs Alexander, and in his life that feeling of trust is rare; she is kind and caring, and he can confide in her, and we see that building and growing throughout the play.”
She continued,
“In terms of challenges, playing an elderly person has meant I’ve had to research body language, physical movement and tone of voice – I’ve even developed an accent to channel her, which has really helped! I’ve never played an elderly character before, so it’s been really interesting, and I’m really enjoying the process of character development and rehearsals.”
Annie also has a unique role at the end of the play, when she has the opportunity to puppeteer. Miss Mayes shared,
“We won’t give away the surprise at the end of the play, because we’ve adapted it slightly, but suffice to say Annie was selected to puppeteer because she’s also brilliant physically on stage – she’ll be working with a puppet from a past production which was produced for us by one of only two companies in the UK that make puppets. But enough for now, as I say we don’t want to spoil any surprises, hopefully everyone who wanted to has managed to get tickets for the show and they’ll see our wonderful students perform for themselves!”
Tickets for Thursday 13 February are sold out, with just a few remaining for Wednesday 12 February’s performance, visit TicketSource to grab yours!
