Mark Haddon’s novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time quickly became a staple in high school English classes not very long after its publication in 2003. The highly original novel is a first-person narrative mystery told by Christopher Boone, an autistic British fifteen year-old, living in the small town of Swindon. Haddon employed some wonderfully creative devices to help capture Christopher’s unique perspective on his world, including illustrations, maps and a batch of entertaining parenthetical observations. Ten years later, playwright Simon Stephens brought the work to London stages using a variety of dramatic techniques to again convey Christopher’s very different take on our world. Flashing strobe lights, mobile blackboards that serve as television screens and some really effective group choreography all help the audience begin to appreciate how autism can affect perception. The Village’s production led by director Jerry Dixon, choreographer Sonia Dawkins and sound designer Brent Warwick successfully meets the challenges of this very demanding script, bringing Christopher’s world alive.
In many ways, the Village’s show outdoes the national tour that came to Seattle’s Paramount Theater last year. The more intimate setting here allows us to get closer to the story, which in effect is simply a drama about the troubles of one family attempting to raise young Christopher. The troupe struck gold in the casting of their lead; Michael Krenning shines in his portrayal of the troubled young boy. He ably portrays what it might be like to live in an isolated and often terrifying world. Christopher is never able to make direct eye-contact with any other member in the story, yet is acutely aware of all his surroundings. Krenning allows us to appreciate what it might be like to have one’s senses constantly set at 11.
The play’s mystery begins with Christopher finding a dog stabbed to death in his neighbor’s yard. Though his father (an earnest James Sasser) admonishes his son not to get involved, Christopher is determined to solve the puzzle and find the murderer. Jehan Osanyin plays Siobhan, Christopher’s school counselor. She encourages the boy to write a story about his investigation. Playwright Stephens has Siobhan share the narration of the story with her student, a task that is solely Christopher’s in the novel. The plot will include some amorous shenanigans involving the neighbors, and Christopher’s father and mother (Kathryn Van Meter). The machinations of the story will eventually send the young boy on a harrowing journey to London. Christopher desperately needs a constant sense of order and routine. Watching him deal with the baffling requirements of modern urban travel makes for one of the highlights of the show.
Act II has some fun with the Meta implications of the play as Siobhan insists that Christopher’s story should be transformed into a theatrical event. Here too, Director Dixon ensures that all of the inspired stage business focuses on amplifying what might be occurring in Christopher’s mind. Krenning does a brilliant job of subtly portraying the joy his introverted character finally is able to experience in the latter scenes of the play. Be sure to stick around after the curtain call, as the play has Christopher enact one of the novel’s appendix entries explaining a difficult math problem. Geometry is rarely so entertaining!
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time plays at the Village Theatre in Issaquah through April 21. It will appear at the Everett Performing Arts Center April 26 through May 19. For more ticket information go to villagetheatre.org or call 425-392-2202.