The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time is playing at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre located at 243 West 47th Street. It runs two hours thirty five minutes with one intermission. The play is an open end run.

The play is adopted from the novel written by Mark Haddon.

The play made its debut at the West End Theatre on August 2, 2012 at the Royal National Theatre, it transferred to the Apollo Theatre in 2013 and reopened on July 9, 2014 at the Gielgud Theatre. In London it won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor, Best Director, Best supporting Actress, Best Sound Design, Best Lighting Design and Best Set Design.

The Broadway production opened on October 5, 2014.

It has been nominated for six 2015 Tony Awards for Best Play, Best Direction (Marianne Elliott), Best Actor (Alex Sharp), Best Lighting (Paul Constable), Best Scenic Design (Bunny Christine & Finn Ross) and Best Chorography (Scott Graham & Steve Hoggett).

Christopher Boone (Taylor Trensch) is leaning over his neighbors Mrs. Shears (Mercedes Herrero) dog. The dog is dead, with a pitch fork in him. Mrs. Shears Blames him for killing Wellington and calls the police. Christopher denies killing the dog. He won’t go with the officer to the police station. When the officer grabs him, he starts screaming and hits him. Christopher is autistic and does not like being touched. Things get straighten out and Christopher goes home. He tells his dad Ed (Ian Barford) that he is going to find the killer of Wellington. Ed tells him to forget it. But Christopher can’t and knocks on the neighbors doors for information. Mrs. Alexander (Helen Carey tells him his mother ran away with Mrs. Shears, husband Roger (Richard Hollis). His father told him his mother died of a heart attacked.

All through the first act Christopher is writing a book about his life. His teacher Siobhan ( Francesca Faridany) reads passages from it. Ed reads it and gets upset, he hides the book. Christopher finds the book in a floor board in his father’s bedroom along with 43 letters his mother had sent him.

Ed admits to his son that he killed the dog.

After reading the letters Christopher decides to go to London to find his mother with his pet rat. This is an achievement since he has autism and has quirks.

The second act tells you what happened when he is reunited with his mother and the events that bring him back home. At the end his dad bribes him with a dog.

All during the first act Christopher is setting up a train station with a village all around the stage floor. The stage is black with white lines that make boxes. The boxes open up on the floor and wall and have things that Christopher uses to set up his village. Lights and special effects are used.

The show is quirky but in a positive way. Nothing is done in a conventional way and why not, it works.

This is a must see show.

The only thing I sometimes could not hear the actors but then I was sitting in the very last row in the theatre . What do I expect I paid $27 for the ticket?

Alex Sharp who normally plays Christopher is not in the show on Wednesday evening or Sunday matinee. Taylor Tresch takes his place. He did a great job.

Do not leave after the ovation, Christopher does something special. I was waiting for the cast when I asked the security guard where everyone was. He told me they were doing something else. So I went back inside to see.

Review by Rozanna Radakovich.

Photos by Annazor.

To read a candid interview with the cast, scroll down to the left for recent photos. Click on recent photos for this and other shows.