Round House Theatre: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night

One thing is not curious about this brilliantly written play, it begins with the brutal death of a dog.  A murder for which the neighbor's Autistic teenage son is accused, but then acquitted.  The crime becomes the teenager's obsession, and he sets out to find Mr. Wellington's killer with a single-mindedness typical of those on the spectrum.  It is a quest that is resolved at intermission and then what follows is an entirely different quest that reminded me of Odysseus.

I called the writing brilliant, and I'm not over stating it.  Taking on the dramatization of the world through the eyes of an Autistic teenager is not an easy task, but Simon Stephens is up to it.  He brings to life the novel written by Mark Haddon with a tender understanding that doesn't mask the challenging aspects of a life on the spectrum.  Nor does he exploit them or turn them into some cliched caricature. At the same time, there is a constant tension between the protagonist's understanding of the world around him and the world's response.

Of the three principle players, I was familiar with the work of both Tonya Beckman (Judy, the mother) and Cody Nickell (Ed, the father).  Both are accomplished actors, and I am beginning to elevate Mr. Nickell to the level of chameleon.  In the three main roles in which I have had the pleasure of experiencing his talents: Antony in Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra," the do gooder reporter, Paul Verrall in the comedy "Born Yesterday," and now, Ed, the grieving, confused father, Mr. Nickell has presented as unrecognizable from the previous performance.  I consider it a high honor when, even after I know he's the actor, I ask myself, "Is that the understudy?  Did they fail to let us know or something?"  However good anyone else is in this play, it is the ability of the lead actor to convince us that Christopher is the real deal.  Harrison Bryan sold me the farm after about 3.25 minutes!  Reading in the program that he had played the role before and won a best actor award for it, didn't surprise me in the least.

Unlike any production I can recall, this one was so infused with technology, an synchronized pantheon of lighting and computer projections created a level of magic, and frankly I can't image how you would tell the story without it.

A quick word to the renovated Round House Theater itself.  Beautiful!  Most of the obvious up-grades where in the lobby, bathrooms and lounge, but I believe they also made it possible to further expand the size of the stage when necessary giving more flexibility in production design.  Its really a lovely theater and quite a gem with easy walking distance from the Bethesda Red Line Metro!