SIMON Stephens adaptation of Mark Haddon's much loved multi-prize winning book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time comes to Southampton next week after winning seven Olivier Awards and still basking in the glory of five Tony Awards.

A triumph on Broadway, in London and now on tour, this acclaimed National Theatre production is an extraordinary piece of theatre and runs at the Mayflower from Tuesday June 23 until Saturday July 4.

Opening as a murder mystery, with Christopher, 15, having discovered his neighbour’s murdered dog, he determines to solve the crime.

But Christopher has behavioural difficulties that don’t allow him to understand the complex emotional circumstances that surround the dog’s death.

His view of the world is out of kilter; he screams when touched, detests certain colours, always tells the truth and has a highly mathematical mind that struggles with empathy.

Whilst he exhibits the behaviour of someone with Aspherger's Syndrome - a form of autism, this is never actually stated in the book.

Dramatising this first person narrative was never going to be an easy option, given his fragmented emotional engagement with others, particularly as the novel exists within Christopher’s private world but Simon Stephens has pulled off a triumph.

When I caught up with him at The National Theatre rehearsals for the UK tour it was striking how humble he is about its success and he revealed it all began with his complaint about coffee!

"The whole process started here at the National Theatre- with a grumble! The coffee at the National Theatre studio is terrible – a view I shared with the novelist Mark Haddon.

He was here in 2007.

In grumbling to him we struck up a conversation: a complaint became a conversation which led to a friendship!

We both share a taste for good coffee, the same taste in music and the same views on life, and we are both fathers."

In deed, it was from that friendship that the work was born and Simon adds: “I didn’t write this play for money: I wasn’t paid for it and it wasn’t an aspiration that this would go on tour or be on NT Live – it was just done out of the spirit of friendship .

“He ( Mark Haddon) told me he had been approached 100 times for the stage rights to the book but he turned it down. When he was asked by the producer of Godspell he realised that inevitably it would happen one day.

“He was very kind about my plays because they are unsentimental, whereas I thought I have a heart of flint !

#2This is a story about family, facing life with difficulties and he wanted someone who would do it without sentimentality.

"He asked me and I said I didn’t want a commission: I would do it just for him out of friendship. I said I want to be able to say ‘this intangible novel is totally intangible! 'And walk away. Writing it wasn't a commission, it was an experiment!

"I’d read the book in 2004 and fell in love with Christopher and his dad, and how he sees the world.

“It’s not about autism- it’s about family. It’s a play about Christopher. He’s not defined by his condition or illness, but it’s about his positivity and how he’s defined by it.

“It’s a play about teaching too. Some professions run in the family: you get families of fire-fighters, and lawyers – and criminals.

"I’m from a family of teachers ...even my seven year old son says he wants to be a teacher. I became fascinated by the relationship between Siobhan ( the teacher) and Christopher.

"I think everyone who goes to school has one teacher they prefer to any other- and every teacher has a favourite student."

“When I wrote this I didn’t think about The National Theatre, the West End or bringing it on tour. I just thought about telling the story about Christopher, his family, his teacher and writing it as truthfully as I could.

“There is a great risk in staging this book because it’s a book people love: I don’t think anyone loves it more than any of us do."

• The National Theatre’s production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was one of the big winners at The Tony Awards held in New York on June 7 June, winning five awards - Best Play - Simon Stephens, Best Direction of a Play - Marianne Elliott, Best Performance by a leading Actor in a Play - Alex Sharp as Christopher Boone, Best Lighting Design of a Play – Paule Constable and Best Scenic Design of a Play – Bunny Christie and Finn Ross.

Simon Stephens, who accepted the award for Best Play alongside the entire producing team added: ‘It's been an incredible collaboration and the fact the show has been received this well in New York means the world to me.’

• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time will run a special Relaxed Performance on Thursday 2 July at 2.00pm at Mayflower Theatre, Southampton.

This Relaxed Performance has been specifically designed to welcome people who will benefit from a more relaxed performance environment, including people on the autism spectrum, sensory and communication difficulties, or a learning disability.

There is a relaxed attitude to noise and movement and some small changes made to the light and sound effects.

An easy way to understand the atmosphere is perhaps, 'the opposite of the quiet carriage on the train'.

Tickets available from the Box Office on 02380 711811. Age recommendation 11+