Curious Incident role is 'golden opportunity'

The National Theatre's critically-acclaimed staging of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has opened at the Apollo Theatre in the West End.

Luke Treadaway reprises his role as 15-year-old Christopher Boone, a maths genius with Asperger's Syndrome.

Speaking to the BBC's Tim Masters after Tuesday night's opening he described the part as a "golden opportunity".

Simon Stephens' stage adaptation is based on the best-selling 2003 novel by Mark Haddon that premiered at the National's Cottesloe Theatre last year.

Both versions have been directed by Marianne Elliott, who co-directed the National's worldwide hit War Horse.

The West End production sees the play's hi-tech staging expanded to fill the Apollo's larger space.

"The West End is neither here nor there," said Mark Haddon after the show. "It's not about flashing lights or the size of the theatre - it's about having a really good experience on stage."

The novelist said that his involvement with the play had made him want to focus on theatre writing.

"Writing a book is a very lonely business . You want to communicate with 10 or 20 or 50,000 people - you never meet them," he said.

"The great thing about being in a theatre is you watch people to reacting to what you've written and that is something I really miss.

"I wrote something for the Donmar Warehouse a couple of years ago and I'm going to start writing for the theatre again. Partly because this experience has reminded me of that communal aspect to it."

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is at the Apollo Theatre in London until 31 August.