On Friday, Sept. 20, Sacred Heart University’s Theatre Arts Program (TAP) opened its production of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” in the new Black Box Theatre. The play is based on the book of the same title by English writer and novelist Mark Haddon.
According to the Edgerton Center for Performing Arts, the story focuses on Christopher Francis Boone, a 15-year-old boy living in Swindon, England. He is on a journey to investigate the untimely death of his neighbor’s dog. It won an Olivier Award in 2013 for Best New Play and a Tony Award in 2015 for Best Play.
Junior David Irrizary, who plays Boone, spoke about the intense preparation it took to put this show up in a short amount of time. “A big part was memorizing lines because Christopher is on almost every page,” said Irrizary.
A sneak peek into the TAP show, “The Curious Incident of the
Dog in the Night-Time.”
Instagram, @shutheatrearts
Despite not being directly stated in the script, it is recognized that the character Christopher is neurodivergent. Part of Irrizary’s research was to go to those who have neurodivergences and talk to them about their real life experiences. “I wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing a caricature or an impersonation,” said Irrizary.
“One of the takeaways is that everyone kind of has their own thing in life that they are going through,” said Irrizary. “They each have their own perspective.”
Junior Steve Bekhit enjoyed TAP’s portrayal of people living with a neurodivergence, and the family life for those who have neurodivergent children. “It can be complicated for a family when they don’t know how to deal with those issues,” Bekhit said.
TAP’s production is unique in its design elements, whether it’s the intricate lighting or even Christopher’s blue sweatshirt, to immerse the audience into the story.
“We have so many different design elements that affect the show, and it makes the audience really absorbed into the world,” said junior and co-projections designer Sami Millerick.
Millerick described the collaborative process of the technical department using visuals to bring the audience into Christopher’s mind. She had her co-projections designer source their own material online, with Millerick drawing some elements herself. They would then put these designs into the editing software Q-Lab, adjust as needed, and place them in the script as different “cues” for stage-management.
“It’s a long process,” said Millerick. “It’s a lot of turning your creativity and vision in your brain into editing and then putting it out onto that actual stage.”
Bekhit spoke about how the design elements enhanced his viewing experience. “I really liked the floor projections implying personal space,” said Bekhit. “The Black Box was really nice. It was really immersive, I felt like I was there.”
TAP’s production of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-Time” has its final weekend of performances on Oct. 4-5 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 6 at 3 p.m. Tickets are available online on the Edgerton Center for Performing Arts website.
