Selection of Music and Sound Design for
"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time"
play by Simon Stephens
Headgate Theatre Production, Colchester. Directed by Heather Davis.
Weds 17th - Sun 21st June 2026
Christopher is the central character of the play. He has autism, is brilliant at maths and enjoys anything to do with outer space.
To create "Christopher's Theme", I took the Prime Numbers (used as chapter numbers in the original book by Mark Haddon) and applied them to a piano keyboard.
Act 1 Scene 20. Christopher recounts a memory of being by the sea with his mother.
"Christopher by the Sea" features Christopher's Theme combined with the sound of the seaside.
Act 1 Scene 21. Christopher's mum tells him that if she hadn't married his father she'd be living in France with a man called Jean.
I created a typical whimsical French accordian piece to underscore her dialogue which includes a dream sequence.
Act 2 Scene 25. Christopher has got to London by himself and becomes frozen in fear with the noise of the tube trains.
I took a ride on some London tubes and recorded the sound and mixed it with music and a beat to help the performers count where they are in the sequence.
There are several deeply emotional moments in the play. This is underscore using Christopher's Theme to support the feeling.