*** Many of us are hooked on the television show called “The Good Doctor”. This series ( now in its final season, so they say) is about an autistic young man raised by a doctor who becomes a surgeon. Jane and I have been watching since day one and we will miss watching how this young man handles things in a manner that is quite foreign to us. Watching a show like this makes us think that there are many things that are unique and different in people that makes us who we are.
In “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a play by Simon Stephens, based on the novel by Mark Haddon, we get to meet Christopher ( a brilliant interpretation by Leo Spiegel) an autistic teen who finds his neighbor’s dog dead, is accused by the police of being the one that did the deed, and then goes out of his normalcy range to find the answer to who killed the dog. The unique staging of this production at The Skokie Theater, directed by Steve Scott, who truly knows his was around any stage, will set you on your heels to start, but after awhile you will find yourself going with the flow of the story and the action.
Since we are talking “murder mystery” here, I will not divulge anything that will give away “whodunit?” The story involves a narrator, reader or perhaps the program is correct Voice, in this case Danielle Kerr,, who is Christopher’s inner thoughts as well as his teacher/mentor/therapist. As Christopher gets into his quest to find the answer, he ends up finding answers to questions that were never asked and his own history and future become a major part of the story and then, the second part of the story where he creates a play to tell us, the audience, his story. This is a unique bit of theater that some will love and others might say, is it over yet?
Part of what we learn from this story is about his condition, which many of us are unaware of except those who watch “The Good Doctor”, and let’s face it, while it is good TV drama, how many of us believe that such a doctor truly exists. In many ways this is a “coming of age” play but with a story involving someone who is just a little “different” than the norm. The ensemble is solid and truly makes the story come to life with great ease Hats off to Sean Michael Barrett, Kelly Faherty, Chris Lysy, Michelle McKenzie-Voigt, Reid O’Connell, Valerie Velho, Olivia Winters(mother) and Michael Wollner ( as father).
The set (Brian Wasserman) is small and never detracts from the action onstage. Pat Henderson’s lighting is spot-on and Brian Bedoya makes the sound perfectly clear. This is a show done with simple costumes (Jade Alexander) and few props with the exception of a notebook and a lot of letters(Elaina Miller), and a knife. As I said, this one will not appeal to everyone, and you may find that on the way home or having coffee afterwards you will have a lot to discuss. The play ends with a little explanation of the final exam taken in the play- it is adorable and Spiegel shines with this part!
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” will continue thru April 21st with performances as follows:
Sun, Mar 31:2:00pmThe Skokie Theatre is located at 7924 Lincoln Avenue in Skokie
Price: $38-$42
Show Type: Drama
Box Office: 847-677-7761
To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”
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