Theater: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: just as good the second time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, the marvelous multiple Olivier- and Tony- winning whodunnit play adapted by Simon Stephens from the novel by Mark Haddon, continues a very long run (two years, ages for a non musical) on Broadway. I saw it again last week with a colleague who is raising a child with autism-spectrum disorder, as does the play's 15 year old protagonist Christopher (currently played by the terrific Tyler Lea). While the play was certainly a more personal experience for my friend, mixing the humor, anger, and sine-wave emotional state that accompanies living with such a family member, I concurred with him that the play is an honest, funny, moving experience regardless of one's personal connection to the disorder. I have seen a number of movies and plays that attempt to portray a psychiatric disorder (e.g. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Butcher Boy, A Woman on the Verge), but somehow this one manages to make me really empathize, not just sympathize. Christopher's unique reality, revealed as he investigates a tragic neighborhood canine crime, is presented with such warmth and humor that it becomes natural, and you pull for him from start to finish (audience members at one point were spontaneously yelling to the onstage actors to help Christopher out). As in all the great plays, the individual situation of the character becomes universal, quite remarkable since the protagonist has a disorder than is notorious for distancing the subject from the rest of us. The play has a genuine, non-cloying upbeat warmth that is rare at the theater, especially for a guy like me who revels in tortured souls as portrayed by Ingmar Bergman, Eugene O'Neill, et. al. It must be very tempting to focus on the dark side when writing/producing a play, since through literary history the tragedies seem to get the most acclaim, and not just for Shakespeare. Even a great comic writer like Woody Allen gets better press for his more serious works like Manhattan or Blue Jasmine than for the outright comedies.

So for me, this "murder-mystery" remains a unique little gem, and an exception to my usual preference for prolonged angst at the theater. Whether in the script, the continuously forward-moving narrative, the mixture of emotions, or the wonderous manic set that portrays everything from prime numbers to elevators, neurons, and subway stops on a light projected cube-grid, this play is as good as it gets. Run, do not walk, and see it if it tours in your area.