Atul Kumar on directing The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Atul Kumar, artistic director of The Company Theatre, reimagines the story in a distinctly Indian context. Instead of Swindon and London, Christopher’s journey takes place in Mumbai. The city’s local train network serves as the perfect backdrop for the play’s emotional and physical journey. Kumar’s adaptation is being staged in Delhi this weekend, marking yet another high point in the seventh season of Aadyam Theatre, after two successful runs in Mumbai.

Kumar’s version retains the essence of Stephens’ adaptation but weaves in the flavours, textures, and rhythms of Mumbai. The characters speak the colloquial language of the city, and their lives reflect its unique challenges and quirks. Kumar underlines that Stephens has skillfully adapted the dramatic structure and dialogues, making thoughtful decisions about what to include from the novel and what to leave out. That process alone is quite “a feat” — choosing how to distill the novel into a play that still captures the essence of the story. Through his adaptation, he has managed to dive into the insights and inner workings of Christopher’s mind in a way that feels both faithful to the original and uniquely theatrical.

Breaking the fourth wall

“As far as the performance is concerned, my actor (Dheer Hira as Christopher D’Souza) doesn’t try to enact the role in a stereotypical way — like, say, Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man,” says Kumar. Instead, he remains himself while portraying Christopher’s distinct perspective. He conveys how Christopher sees things differently, hears things differently, and perceives the reality in front of him with extraordinary detail. Christopher loves mathematics, order, and symmetry, and this is reflected in his actions, movements, and the entire stage choreography. “Even the visuals we’ve created as projections behind him simulate not just how Christopher thinks but also how he feels,” adds Kumar.

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This approach completes the theatrical “triangle.” The audience becomes a vital part of the experience — they step into Christopher’s world, feel it, and respond to it, giving their energy back to the actors on stage. The actors, in turn, feed off that energy and amplify it, creating a dynamic and immersive exchange. One of the standout choices in this adaptation was the way the fourth wall was approached. “The character of Siobhan, whom we’ve adapted as Fatima, Christopher’s maths teacher, is key here,” Kumar notes. “She’s constantly breaking the fourth wall, talking directly to the audience.” That ramps up the connection between them and the story. The actors move the set themselves, step out of character, and become part of the ensemble.

“Initially, we included Simon Stephens’ meta-theatrical references to staging a play, but in later edits, we removed those to focus entirely on immersing the audience in Christopher’s journey,” says Kumar, known for his innovative approach to theatre, evident in his earlier adaptations of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (Piya Behrupiya) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Khwab Sa). Immersion, however, isn’t just visual or physical — it’s deeply auditory. The play takes full advantage of sound to create tension and intimacy, reflecting Christopher’s heightened sensory awareness.

When he does leave his house in Bandra and starts meeting people — which he doesn’t particularly enjoy — there are various sounds that he hears in vivid detail. These include a steel glass falling in someone’s kitchen, a child crying far away, or the faint sound of cricket commentary playing on someone’s television while he talks to his neighbours. These auditory details have been woven into the play’s soundscape. Then, of course, there’s the traffic noise when he travels from his home to the railway station. Once he enters the station, all hell breaks loose.

Portraying neurodivergence

Kumar says the play uses rhythm, soundscapes, lighting, set design, and the physicality of the actors to reflect how the protagonist negotiates and navigates the world. This includes how the world views neurodivergent people — often ostracising or misunderstanding them, and sometimes unfairly branding them as “mad.” In the play, we see Christopher fighting against these perceptions. Despite the so-called ‘shortcomings’ seen by others, he leaves his house, meets people, writes a diary, and solves the mystery of the dog’s murder. In the process, he uncovers his mother’s letters, learns that she is alive, and realises that his father lied to him. He even discovers that his father killed the dog. Afraid and overwhelmed, he runs away from home, managing to reach Colaba on his own, wading through the chaos of Bombay’s locals — a challenge far greater than Christopher’s journey from Swindon to London in the original story.

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“We’ve portrayed this chaos on stage by creating crowds with multiple actors, using movement to show hundreds of bodies pressing against him. He is overwhelmed, huffing and puffing, until he collapses, curling into a foetal position,” says Kumar. Even in such moments of crisis, his mind conjures conversations with Miss Fatima and his father’s hologram, who appear on stage as imagined figures. He negotiates with ticket sellers, gets onto the wrong train, and experiences an emotional whirlwind. The ensemble plays a dual role — they create obstacles but also support him, holding his space in moments of vulnerability. At times, the play becomes a flurry of movement, while at others, it falls into a profound stillness as we listen to him slowly explain what he’s going through. These theatrical devices capture his journey and bring it to life.

The production features a talented ensemble cast, including Jaimini Pathak, Dheer Hira, Dilnaz Irani, Shivani Tanksale, Salone Mehta, Harssh Singh, Vidushi Chadha, and Abhay Kaul. Aadyam Theatre, an initiative by the Aditya Birla Group, has been a game-changer for Indian theatre. Now in its seventh season, the platform continues to support ambitious productions, enabling directors like Kumar to bring their creative visions to life.