A bare stage…

review by Denby Fortune

March 8, 2017

            The Curious Incident of the dog in the Night-Time was absolutely incredible in so many ways. Everything from the actors, set, costumes, and plot was captivating every second. The stage was unlike any other professional show, and the characters that the actors created were fascinating. Imagine a bare stage with nothing but a couple of white boxes, some props, and the cast. This stage looked almost like a blue print, in which different parts of the stage were highlighted to show scene changes as well as projections of the outlines of houses on streets, train stations, and rooms which were all shown on the bare stage without physical props.

Although it took time to get used to projections on a stage instead of actual sets, it paid off overall. Since the character of Christopher was extremely complex, this bare stage made it easier to understand how he was feeling throughout everything that happened in the show. For example, Christopher is a fifteen-year-old autistic child, and throughout the show he continues to have mental breakdowns. Whenever he had these breakdowns, projections of different shapes and colors were shown on the stage to further enhance what was going on in his mind. Being able to somewhat understand what was going on in his mind created an amazing experience for the audience. Autistic kids’ minds are so complex it is nearly impossible to understand how they feel and what they are thinking, but having projections of shapes and colors flying around the stage helped the audience understand what was going on in his mind and how he was feeling in that moment. The projections of these shapes and colors along with Christopher screaming due to his mental breakdown, created an overwhelming affect that made the audience empathize with him.

            Since the set was so bare, it also forced the actors to be creative by showing where they were and what was happening witch their bodies. The actors were forced to use their bodies to enhance what was going on through the show. For example, in one scene Christopher was explaining how he thinks he would be a good astronaut. While he was describing what it would be like to be an astronaut, he was imagining he was flying through space. Along with an image of space being projected on the floor and walls, the actors around him lifted up Christopher to show that he was flying. The actors spun Christopher around in the air to create the illusion that he was flying through space. Having the actors create this illusion, instead of putting him on cables to physically be lifted through the air, made this scene more personal. The way that the actors spun him around flowed very nicely, which would not have happened if he was put on cables.

            Overall, this show was unlike any other professional show I had seen before. The set was extremely abstract and forced the actors to be creative and use their bodies to show what was happening instead of using sets and props. The set helped the audience understand what Christopher was feeling in a way that a normal set could not have done. The Curious Incident of the dog in the Night-Time adapted by Simon Stephens from the book by Mark Haddon, was an absolutely spectacular and captivating performance that is definitely worth the watch.