‘Curious Incident’ at the Paramount offers empathetic glimpse into … – The Seattle Times

National Theatres production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at the Paramount stuns with inventive design and entertaining storytelling, writes critic Misha Berson.

Imagine, for a moment, that the human brain is a giant black box rimmed with neon and lined with black graph paper. The box contains the architecture and circuitry of thoughts, emotions and visual and audio perceptions as they crackle and hum in an over-amped psyche.

This container, which takes up the entire stage at the Paramount Theatre, is production designer Bunny Christies utterly ingenious setting for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. The production by Londons vaunted National Theatre maps the mind of a 15-year-old autistic boy on a mission with stunning theatrical power and rare compassion.

Showing at the Paramount through Sunday in a worthy U.S. touring edition, Curious Incident is based on Mark Haddons novel of the same name. The scary-smart but socially dysfunctional protagonist, Christopher, has the classic signs of Aspergers syndrome a subset of autism that, according to the UKs National Autism Society, makes one see, hear and feel the world differently than others.

By Simon Stephens, based on the novel by Mark Haddon. Through July 30, Paramount Theatre, Seattle; $30 and up (800-745-3000 or stgpresents.org).

An admirer of Sherlock Holmes (whose fictive hyper-rationalism might be a sign of Aspergers), Christopher aims to solve two mysteries: the fate of his long-absent mother and the killing of a neighborhood dog. Through his first-person account, Christophers obsessive thinking patterns, social phobias (including a terror of being touched) and mathematical brilliance are cannily revealed, as are his problematic and essential relationships with others and unintentional but keen humor.

Haddons prose is dotted with lists (Christopher knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057), diagrams and the odd math equation, upping the degree of difficulty for any stage adaptation. However, the Tony Award-winning play by Simon Stephens, matched up with sensational production design and Marianne Elliotts seamless direction, successfully conveys Christophers viewpoint. Ironically, this takes leaps of sensory imagination, underpinned by empathy a very different kind of intelligence than Christophers.

During the tumultuous solo trip to London that dominates Act 2, long-sheltered Christopher (tireless, terrific Adam Langdon) encounters the clank and screech of trains, the crush of crowds and signage that most brains filter and temper. For him, the sensory overload is a ferocious assault via thunderous sound (sensitive ears may benefit from earplugs) and frenzied montages by video designer Finn Ross.

When he is emotionally overwhelmed by a run-in with his anxious, hovering father (an intense Gene Gillette), or a neighbors indiscretion or a series of impatient policemen, Christopher often comforts himself with numbers, which tumble from the back screen like droplets from a fountain.

Memoirs by high-functioners like Temple Grandin and John Elder Robison have helped dispel some misconceptions and myths about Aspergers, and Curious Incident neither romanticizes nor pities Christophers condition. His inability to empathize with others and hair-trigger flight-or-fight response to perceived aggression would challenge any loving parent. When his father loses it entirely over such behavior, its understandable if not completely forgivable. (If Christopher cannot empathize, we can.)

However, interactions with a caring therapist, Siobhan (Maria Elena Ramirez) who helps frame the story by reciting Christophers written account also suggest that some therapies may enhance behavior and emotional intelligence for those with Aspergers.

But Curious Incident isnt about curing Christopher. Rather, it does one of the things theater does best: It tells an entertaining story while immersing us in the experience and outlook of a fellow human being one whose brain happens to work differently than ours.

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'Curious Incident' at the Paramount offers empathetic glimpse into ... - The Seattle Times