Katherine MacAlister talks to author Mark Haddon about his book’s New Theatre debut show

Mark Haddon’s book The Curious Incident Of The Dog In the Night-Time won the 2003 Whitbread Book of the Year award and sold more than two million copies. It has since been transformed into an award-winning stage show which opened at The National and is now on tour and coming to Oxford’s New Theatre.

Here the Oxford author answers questions about his work and that book: How involved have you been with The Curious Incident since it was first published?

“I was very much involved at first but I try to keep my distance now. It is a very robust animal which survives very well without my support and I need to concentrate on writing other books. I am hugely grateful for everything that Curious has done for me but it would be very easy to allow my job to become that of The Man Who Wrote Curious Incident.”

How hard was it to let your baby go?

“To the National…? Very easy. I chose Simon Stephens to adapt it – my only significant involvement in the process. But it was a stroke of genius, if I say so myself… How did you feel when you first watched the play at The National?

“Astonished, impressed, moved… I had re-read the book so many times and talked about it so often that, to be honest, I could no longer read it for pleasure. So it was a joy to see it brought to life in a different form. In a strange way it was like reading the book for the first time.

Joshua Jenkins seems perfect for the part of Christopher?

“Yes, he is a very good actor. We’ve had many Christophers by now and they have all been fantastic. But one of the many wonderful things about the stage production is how much of an ensemble piece it is.”

The cast is excited and apprehensive about you coming to see the show in Oxford?

“It has gone down really well everywhere, so they have very little to be apprehensive about.”

How has The Curious Incident changed your life?

“Most importantly it has earned enough money for me to take my time writing. I can throw half-written books away if I think they’re not working (and I have done precisely that on a number of occasions). Very few writers are in that enviable position.”

Do you always feel like your next book has to be better than Curious Incident?

“I want every book of mine to be good and I put a great deal of pressure on myself, but I’ve never felt that pressure from other people and I’ve never really felt it because of Curious. In any case Curious was read by a truly astonishing number and range of people. I’m more interested in writing good books than high sales, though I’m very lucky indeed to have sold so many.”

Does it surprise you, the emotion and response it evokes?

“At first it was completely unexpected. I think I understand it a little better now. Curious is a very spare and lean text so when readers get to the end most have had an experience which is, to a great extent, of their own creation, so feel a sense of ownership and involvement with the novel.”

Having gone to Merton College, and lived here since, how pivotal has Oxford been to your work?

“Very little, although I love living and working in Oxford. When I’m writing I could be anywhere. You might say that the whole function of writing – for both reader and writer – is being somewhere else. But I love Port Meadow and I run in Wytham Woods several times a week. I think those two places are more important to me than anywhere else in the city. Shotover is pretty good, too.”

Can you still slope around Oxford undiscovered?

“No one recognises writers. Over the last year only one person has said, “Are you the Mark Haddon who wrote Curious Incident?”

And the dreaded question, what next?

“Not dreaded at all. It’s much more enjoyable talking about new work. It’s a collection of short stories called The Pier Falls which will be published next May but I’m most proud of the play, Polar Bears, and my third novel, The Red House.

The Curious Incident of The Dog In The Night-Time runs from July 14-18 at the New Theatre, Oxford. 0844 8713020 or atgtickets.com