Review of the Curious Incident

Review of The Curious Incident Performed by Cheshire Academy

I saw the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Simon Stephens on November 15th 2019 at Cheshire Academy. The directors of this play were Mrs. Guarino and Mr. Hunton, the major actors were Pacifica Yang, Ameila Williams, Wiljam Lemping, and Olivia Williamson. This production is about a boy named Christopher who has autism and his families journey. When the lights came up on the stage, the first thing that happened was that a dog was killed. Shortly after this, Christopher's father, Ed reveals that Christophers mother had a heart attack and died. Throughout the first act Ed was struggling without his wife, he got so angry that he even hit Christopher. Eventually it is revealed that Judy, christophers mother didn’t actually die, she ran away with the neighbor to London. We also find out the Ed killed the neighbor's dog. Christopher wants to go live with Judy because he is afraid of his father killing him like he killed the dog. Most of the second act is about his journey to London on the train and how he eventually resolves the conflict with his parents.

A major theme in this production is, domestic violence because christopher was hit by both his father and step father. Another theme is love because both of Christopher's parents, whatever bad decisions they may have made, still loved Christopher. This theme was the most prominent because throughout the play Christopher’s parents made terrible decisions, such as moving away from the family,or abusing Christopher. Even though they did these things it was still clear how much they loved him. In the director's note it said that the actors were portraying one family's struggle and this production was not trying to generalize all people with autism. The program also highlighted the fact that all humans are imperfect in some way. This shows that the cast and directors were trying to emphasize how everyone has flaws and makes mistakes, but it is how you react to those mistakes that makes the difference.

This production made a lot of staging choices that definitely contributed to the quality of the performance, and utilized the space very well. The directors chose not to have a different set for each location and there were very minimal set pieces on stage. For example, a lot of times in Christophers house the only set piece was a table and some hooks on the back wall. I liked this approach because it allowed me to envision what I thought the rest of the house looked like. It also made sure that there was very minimal time wasted on scene changes and moving props. The color scheme was what I liked most about this play. Around the stage there were blue lights that stayed on throughout the entire productions. On the walls around the stage there were chalk drawings of math formulas and other things that are related to the production. This was supposed to symbolize what was going on in Christopher's mind at that point. It also ensured that the stage wasn’t boring because the set was very minimalistic. The actors wore normal clothes that average teenagers and adults would wear. They did this because they were all portraying characters that were from around this time period who were either going to school or work. The sound was very well done. During scene changes there was ominous music which kept the audience’s attention even during a scene change. There was also sound used for different actions such as the doorbell, this helped the audience to get a better picture of what was happening. The lighting was also very important in this production. There was a box of lights around the stage that could change colors. The lights were blue throughout the entire show until one scene when Christopher was trying to get on the yellow train. Then the lights turned yellow, for the audience this foreshadowed a big moment because the lights had been blue for the entire show. Also during the train scene lights were used to show movement of trains in and out of the station. This was very effective and I think that the audience understood what was going on. 

The tech choices created an apprehensive mood that kept the audience on the edge of their seats. As an audience member I always felt as if something sudden was about to happen. This was due to the ominous scene change music and drawings on the walls. I always felt like there was a part of the story we were waiting to discover. Most drawings were of important plot points so when I noticed one that I did not recognize it made me excited to see what happened next. The tech choices also created a lot of tension in the atmosphere. A lot of the time the lighting was dim or did not extend to the entirety of the stage. For me this filled the atmosphere with tension and kept me waiting for something serious to happen. The tech choices for me conveyed a serious and deep meaning throughout the entirety of the show. The lighting, sound, and costumes assured this because no part of these were comedic. 

Christopher and his father were highlighted as the most important characters. This was done by keeping them on stage for the majority of the production. Also, the entire plot revolves around christopher and his journey so it made sense that he was the most important. Ed and Judy, Christopher's parents were positioned as opposite to each other. This was because the actors portrayed their personalities as opposites. Ed was loyal to Christopher and loved him unconditionally but he could be irrational and snap without warning. Judy was not loyal and she ran away from her problems, however she could keep her emotions in check better that Ed. The characters I thought were similar were Christopher and the old lady in the neighborhood. They were both trying to stay calm and make sense of difficult situations. The old lady was trying to help Christopher and that was a very important part of her nature. Christopher’s deepest nature is being helpful too, this is shown when he was trying to protect the neighborhood by finding out who killed the dog. The directors intention for this piece was to show how difficult life was for Christopher and other children who have similar family situations to him. This was achieved by emphasizing the difficult parts of Christopher’s life. He was abused by his step father and father, his mother also abandoned him because he was too difficult to handle. By highlighting these things it helps the audience to understand what christopher and other children that have similar situations have to go through. 

A moment that was very memorable to me as a viewer was when Christopher was building with the trains while Judy delivered a monologue explaining why she left for London. This was an amazing moment in the play. Christopher was building a circle around himself, which symbolized how isolated he felt from the rest of the world. The tension was building in this part because as Judy kept talking she was revealing more and more about her relationship with Christopher. This moment really drew me in as a viewer and made me question everything that I had seen. This monologue contradicted everything I had already thought about Judy. 

My favorite actor in the play was Amelia who portrayed Christopher. This was because she really embodied the character the entire time she was on stage. Even when she was not speaking she still had to be the character. Amelia was very successful because of her ability to change her intensity throughout the play. She was able to go from just being on the stage to screaming after someone touched her. The actor was very believable throughout the entire production because there was never a moment in character throughout the entire show. The voice really sold this character for me. This happened especially when Ameila had to scream or talk very fast. For me this helped me understand what was going on in Christopher’s head. I really liked The Curious Incident and I think that the rest of the audience did too. Everyone in the audience seemed to be very engaged in the story and seemed to be very invested in what would happen next. From this production I learned that it is not necessary to have a very large and complicated set to have a good show. The set was very minimal and the plot still got across to the audience easily.