Curious Incident Play Review

Jonathan Velasquez
IB Lit & Performance
Ms. Guarino
Due: November 20, 2019

 Title of play : Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time

The author : Simon Stephens 

Date I viewed the play : November 15, 2019

Location : The Black Box Theater 

 Main Characters: Amelia Williams (Christopher), Olivia Williamson (Siobhan), Willjam Lempling (Ed), Pacifica Yang (Judy), and Ben Goth (policeman)

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time is about a 15-year-old, autistic teenager named Christopher. Christopher is lied to by Ed, his father that his mother has passed away due to a heart attack. There is also the main scene about a dog that was killed by a pitchfork. Ed was the person who killed the dog, too. Christopher then wants to move in with his mother, Judy, who is alive and lives in London. He thinks his father is a monster so he wants to leave. Christopher then proceeds to take the train to London to live with his mother. When he gets here, Judy is very welcoming and takes Christopher to this A-Level Test. Finally, Ed comes to London to apologize and then shows his sorrow by giving Christopher a puppy. 

This play resembles the relationship, we as a society, see the relationships of a family with an autistic kid. There are a lot of struggles that are partaken in a family like that. For example, in the play there a struggle with Judy not excepting the fact that her son had autism. This play also gave the audience a different perspective on the life of an autistic kid. This personally, changed my view of an autistic kid.

The staging of the play was well executed. I found the flat-grounded stage very interesting, and it also made it easier for the audience to see. The spotlights and highlights were also very interesting parts of the staging that made it great. When the spotlight hit Ed during the scene when he told Christopher that he killed the dog, he made the scene so much more powerful because of how well the emotion and the spotlight combined. The spotlights made the audience feel the powerful scenes in the play even more than they already felt. I felt like the director was trying to find the best ways to set up the stage for the audience. He accomplished this because the audience seemed very pleased by the spotlights, staging, and transitioning of the character's seats.

In my opinion, I feel like Ed, who was played by Willjam Lempling, was the actor who had the best performance. He made the audience feel everything he was saying. For example, the scene when he breaks down crying after Christopher reads the letters about his mother not being dead and wanting a relationship with him, was so powerful. He performed every single line like one of the best performances I've ever seen. His deliverance and his gestures were the biggest strengths he had that made the audience enjoy his performance the most. 

I enjoyed reading and watching Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time a lot. The play was well directed and performed in all aspects of the play. I feel like the audience also found the play impressive. I learned a couple of new things with theater. I learned how impactful a person's deliverance is in theater. I would personally recommend this play to another viewer, and I feel like they would enjoy the play.

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