See the world through a different lens in THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME
Walnut Street Theatre continues its 210th anniversary season with Simon Stephens’ THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME. Directed by Bill Van Horn, the play opened on March 20th and runs through April 28th on the Walnut’s Mainstage. My oldest daughter and I enjoyed this Tony Award-winning Best Play last night.
Fifteen-year-old Christopher is on a mission. After the untimely death of his neighbor’s dog, the smart and unique boy is compelled to investigate the crime. Christopher embarks on a journey where he challenges assumed truths and discovers life-changing secrets. Based on Mark Haddon’s best-selling novel, THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME is a heartwarming and uplifting adventure story for all.
Mark Haddon’s novel was released in 2003 and won the Whitbread Book Award, among others. The title quotes Sherlock Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1892 “The Adventure of Silver Blaze.” Haddon created Christopher’s distinctive voice after imaging a deadpan and factual description of a dead dog. From there, the character was created – a character quirky and clever but unable to deal with the world around him so the reader needs to fill in the blanks.
For several years Haddon claimed his novel was unadaptable, due to the complexities of Christopher’s character. In 2007, he approached friend and playwright Simon Stephens about rewriting the show for the stage. The resulting work opened in the West End in 2012 and won seven Olivier Awards. The set and direction were designed to physically place the audience in a dimensional representation of Christopher’s mind in a space that came to life through projections and stage magic. Instead of being told in first-person like Haddon’s novel, it was told through Christopher’s writings read aloud by his teacher Siobhan.
A year after THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME opened in London, it transferred to Broadway. The Broadway production won five Tony Awards, including Best Play. The show has since enjoyed a UK, US, Australian, and International Tour and productions in Mexico, Seoul, South Africa, and Belgium.
Making his Walnut debut is 17-year-old Austin Nedrow as Christopher Boone. A Lancaster native, Nedrow is currently a senior at Conestoga Valley. He has performed in several shows at the Fulton Theatre and Maine State Music Theatre and teaches at Prestige Gymnastics and the Vikto Yeliohin International Ballet Academy.
Playing Christopher’s parents are Ian Merrill Peakes and wife, Karen Peakes. The two are Walnut stage veterans, both appearing in Mainstage shows this season. Karen was most recently seen as Maria Merelli, the feisty and stubborn wife of an opera star in Ken Ludwig’s A Comedy of Tenors. Ian also donned a dress and wig on the Mainstage this season for his portrayal of Miss Trunchbull in Matilda the Musical. This show will mark Ian Merrill Peakes’ 12th at the Walnut including Harvey, Ideal Husband, Baskervilles, Of Mice and Men, and 128th professional production. Karen Peakes has been seen in Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Private Lives, Of Mice and Men, and Born Yesterday.
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME is sponsored by PNC Arts Alive, DrinkerBiddle, and Frank and Ramona Gwynn. For tickets and information, call 215-574-3550 or 800-982-2787. Tickets are also available online 24/7 by visiting www.WalnutStreetTheatre.org or Ticketmaster.
Image: Photo courtesy of Mark Garvin.
