The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Review

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is an autobiographical narrative of 15-year-old Christopher on the autism spectrum. Mystery occurs in Christopher’s objective of uncovering the murderer of neighbor Mrs. Shears’ dog Wellington, and discovering the truth behind his mother’s supposed death. This play is mostly faithful to the book in its portrayal of a teen’s struggle for truth, and the difficulty of autism as it affects both Christopher and those around him.

The show was extremely well directed by Marianne Elliott, because it creatively portrayed central text and themes. Christopher’s social discrepancies were masterfully illustrated both from his perspective, and that of those he interacted with. The play’s special effects included physical representations of Christopher’s overwhelmed state, helping the audience relate to and understand inner-conflict he experienced. The additions of loud noise when Christopher’s brain was over-stimulated, stairs coming out of walls, lights and smoke effects creating the Underground, facial drawing appearances on walls and other creative additions enhanced the story. Christopher’s teacher Siobhan asking him to “write a play” in the production as opposed to “write a book,” was a twist creating meaningful irony and not disrupting the overall message. Elliott created effects improving the audience’s understanding of the play’s settings and characters, while incorporating creative additions.

The actors were highly skilled but Christopher’s actor was obviously older than fifteen. Twenty-two-year-old Joseph Ayre portrayed Christopher and although wearing boyish clothing, his deep voice and older appearance aged the character. In addition, the actor’s ability to play off the audience, picking on social cues, often skewed the character’s true nature. There were moments when the actor would seem oblivious to social situations, but later would play off the audience for comedic effect, to the detriment of his character who was not supposed to be attuned to others’ feelings.

Christopher’s story teaches the audience everyone has unique contributions that are worthwhile in their own ways. Both the book and the play display this Christopher’s impact on others, and inner turmoil of stepping outside his ridged comfort zone to solve problems and learn truth.