Review: CURIOUS INCIDENT is a Beautiful, but Distant Look at the Life of an Outsider

"It's a cruel and random world, but the chaos is all so beautiful." - Hiromu Arakawa

In THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, running through November 6th at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, the world is full of chaos, and one special boy named Christopher is intent on figuring it out. With a dizzying assault of sights, sounds, and information that over stimulate both Christopher and the audience, the first National Tour of CURIOUS INCIDENT is a theatrical spectacle that theatre lovers won't want to miss.

From the moment that you walk into the Walt Disney Theatre you are struck by the site of a dog laying center stage with a pitchfork stuck into it. That dead dog, Wellington, sends Christopher on an investigation that will change his very particular view of the world. The 2015 Tony-winner for Best Play, CURIOUS INCIDENT is based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Mark Haddon, and was adapted for the stage by Simon Stephens. Though Christopher's specific diagnosis is never discussed, he clearly falls somewhere on the autism spectrum with very intense feelings about colors and being touched, but also with a brilliant memory and mind for math.

Played by recent Juilliard graduate Adam Langdon, Christopher is a challenging, but captivating 15-year-old. He is difficult and frustrating, but also preternaturally observant. Langdon's take on this complex boy is astounding, and at times mesmerizing, and though it is in a way unusual from nearly anything else you've seen on stage before, the play is a familiar journey of learning and self-discovery.

Assisted by the innovative direction of Marianne Elliott, CURIOUS INCIDENT magically spins our world around until you see it the same the way that Christopher does. Through lights, sounds, and projections, as well as delightful choreography (from Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett for Frantic Assembly), the show's multi-talented ensemble is able to provide a unique glimpse into the mind of an individual that we often just consider an "other."

While at times the show becomes too focused on the technical and dramatic spectacle of the moment, when they get it right, it is as if for the first time the audience, and Christopher, are seeing through the distorted confusion of our convoluted world. While Langdon's performance and the show's high and low tech effects are impressive, they do create a distance between the character and the audience, making it difficult to truly care for the boy. That lack of empathy keeps the show's stakes disappointingly low, and can render the proceedings tedious at times, stalling the drama like a train stuck on the tracks.

Helping Christopher navigate this world that he doesn't fully understand are his father Ed (played by Gene Gillette) and his teacher, Siobhan (played by Maria Elena Ramirez). Ed is essentially a good, kind man doing the best that he can after becoming a single parent to a son with specific "gifts and his challenges." However, we learn that Ed, and perhaps all of us, are just as ill-prepared to address the world's most chaotic and frightening moments as Christopher is. Gillette's tortured performance is the most emotionally resonant in the show.

Ramirez is a wonderful, calming influence on both Christopher and the show. With lights and videos whirling about, her steady performance is a buoy in the chaos. However, due to lack of pathos inspired by Christopher, her life-saving steadiness doesn't have as emotional of an impact as it should, but her performance is nonetheless comforting.

(Read my conversation with CURIOUS INCIDENT's Gene Gillette here.)

As Christopher's mother, FeliciTy Jones Latta is many of the things Ed is not. While she loves her son, she doesn't have his father's patience or compassion. However, what is brilliant about her performance is how evident it is that she is trying with everything that she has to do the right thing.

The show's entire ensemble is fantastic, from playing dozens of characters to helping create many of the show's other-worldly moments, but attention must be paid to Tiffany Rachelle Stewart, who often injects the second act with much appreciated comic-relief.

At its heart, CURIOUS INCIDENT is a story about the painful process that an outsider must go through in his attempts to find his place in a world that doesn't understand him. No matter who you are, that is undoubtedly a familiar message. THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME is a beautifully told and designed theatrical story that must be experienced to be understood. To purchase tickets, visit the Dr. Phillips Center website or call 844-513-2014.

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Were more emotionally moved by this otherwise spectacular journey than I was? Let me know on Twitter @BWWMatt. And, "Like" and follow BWW Orlando on Facebook and Twitter using the buttons below.

You can listen to Matt on BroadwayRadio or on BroadwayWorld's pop culture podcast Some Like it Pop.

Banner Credit: FeliciTy Jones Latta, Gene Gillette, and Adam Langdon. Photo Credit: Joan Marcus

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