Hard Hitting Family Story Premiers at Colgan Theatre

By: Jenna Jenkerson

April 3, 2024

Colgan Theatre presented its Fourth Play which premiered on Wednesday February 14. Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was originally a novel by Mark Haddon and was adapted for the stage by Simon Stephens. Directed by Mr. Lanny Warkentien, it is about the investigation of a death of a dog by a teenager on the autism spectrum and the events that follow that.  

The play’s starring character, Christopher Boone, is played by Senior Jaron Curtis. He prepared for his role in the play in many ways, such as listening to the audiobook version of the play to familiarize himself with the script. Curtis also used his own experiences as a person on the autism spectrum to influence Christopher’s behavior. He used his own ticks and stims, such as snapping his fingers and lacking eye contact, and incorporated it into his character. He said he approached him not as a person on the autistic spectrum, but as a person who is going to a foreign country.  

“I didn't try to integrate anything that I saw other people doing...” Curtis said. 

Curtis also wanted to avoid mocking his character. 

“I didn't want to add anything fake to it. I just wanted to add everything real {into Christopher},” he said.  

Rehearsals for the show began in December, which allowed for 7 weeks of stage. The play is unique compared to the other shows Colgan Theatre has done this year, with moving blocks being used to create different settings on the stage.  

“It's the type of story we haven't told before number one.... Also, we've never done a play in this devised style before and that's important to experience,” said Warkentien. 

Another thing included in this show is the use of music. The music and the lights used in the show helped the audience immerse themselves in what was going on in Christopher’s mind.  

“This techno feel really connected all the pieces for me.  I find a deep emotional vibe in techno music that can ebb and flow the same way emotions do,” said Warkentien. 

Rehearsals had challenges. The play is based in England, so the actors had to perfect British accents. Senior Genesis Graves played Siobhan, who is Christopher’s teacher and a voice in Christopher’s head. She, along with others agreed that the show needed to be handled with intricacy and sensitivity due to its content. 

“Because I'm his teacher and I'm also the voice in his head, I really just try to be as caring as possible and really connect with his character before I started working on my own,” said Graves.  

After lots of hard work, the final product proved to be fantastic for the cast members. 

“I think this is a very immersive experience that kind of... just getting better and better as it goes and I really love the direction that it took,” said Curtis.  

Not only did nonautistic students enjoy “Curious Incident”, but students on the autistic spectrum also enjoyed the play as well. 

“The best summation was when an autistic student came up to me after the show and said, "I never thought I'd see myself onstage."  That's powerful,” said Warkentien