Director Rich Cowden leads a stellar cast in an emotionally and visually striking production.

Based on Mark Haddon’s 2003 novel of the same name, the 2012 stage adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Simon Stephens is just the kind of theatrical challenge Aurora Fox Artistic Director Rich Cowden likes to take on. It’s a complex story that demands external depictions of inner thoughts and feelings, and Cowden, who directs, and the Fox crew hit this one pretty much bang-on.

The action kicks off with 15-year-old Christopher Boone (River Hetzel) sitting next to a dead dog in the neighbor’s yard in Swindon, England. We know it’s dead because there’s a sizable garden fork (what we’d call a pitchfork) sticking out of the dog’s side. Despite his protestations of innocence, the neighbor, Mrs. Shears (Rachel Darden) is pretty convinced who the culprit is, and she shoos him out of the yard.

So begins an unusual mystery that upends Christopher’s life completely as he takes up the mantle of detective and starts digging into the crime. Although it’s not stated outright, it’s clear Christopher is somewhere on the autism spectrum, with a Rain Man-esque affinity for numbers (particularly primes), an aversion to human touch and a motor mouth stream of consciousness that drives those around him batty.

As his long-suffering father Ed (Mum is out of the picture), Matthew Murry is fantastic as a parent driven to distraction by a difficult child yet still doing his best to balance his frustration with the love and patience this kid needs.

Christopher doesn’t make it easy, and Hetzel is impressive portraying a boy with limited capacity for upset getting a lot of unwelcome news thrust at him. He believes his mother has been dead several years, but when his detective work leads him to the surprising fact that she’s still alive, the dog mystery turns into something else altogether.

Jess Austgen is propelled in background by supporting castmembers with River Hetzel at right in ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.’ | Photo: RDGPhotography

Pulling out the stops

It’s evident Cowden and the creative team were pulling out all the stops for this one just by entering the theatre and seeing the spare, impressive set. Cantilevered off the proscenium by 45 degrees, the set is already busy with moving projections signaling a lot more to come.

As projections in theatre have improved with technology, it’s fair to say some productions simply overdo it. But Scenic and Projection Designer Brandon Philip Case manages to go big without overwhelming the characters and the action on the stage. Christopher’s mind is a very busy place, and here the projections help illustrate his turmoil even when he’s rocking back and forth with his head in his hands saying nothing. His world is also a paradoxically simple place, where lies are alien to him and stating simple facts (like telling a policeman he’s too old for the job) are second nature.

Along with Star Wars-y prime numbers flying at us from upstage, the whiz-bangery also includes neat scenic effects like chalkboard-style illustrations taking the place of backdrops or set pieces and moving lines conveying the sense of motion on a train.

Priscilla Young-Anker with River Hetzel in ‘Curious Incident.’ | Photo: RDGPhotography

Power trio

Along with Ed, another person trying to support and tolerate Christopher is a school mentor, Siobhan, played with cheeky affection by Andrea Rutherford. Siobhan also serves as a narrator at times, reading from Christopher’s point of view to provide further insight into his inner turmoil and take on life.

While Act 1 of the script is pretty strong, Act 2 drags a bit, with repeated meltdowns by Christopher growing increasingly tedious. That may well be meant to illustrate the challenges caretakers of autistic children confront, but it has the effect of halting action while the adults work to calm him down.

Act 2 does shine with the greater presence of the not-so-dead mother Judy, played by the great Jessica Austgen. With a freshly tuned British accent from her dynamic performance in last’s year’s Arvada Center production of Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really, Austgen delivers an utterly believable portrait of an ordinary woman caught up in a complicated life. After Christopher finds letters in his father’s closet from his mother that were never delivered, it tees up an ill-advised solo trip to London and the unfolding of the whole sordid story to a befuddled Christopher.

Cowden’s management of this excellent cast is quite strong, particularly with the roster of swing characters who are almost always onstage to play various people in Christopher’s life. Credited as “voices,” they’re nonetheless always at the ready to play a cop, a nosy neighbor, Judy’s London lover or a reverend.

But it’s the trio of Hetzel, Austgen and Murry that really delivers the emotional impact of Curious Incident even as the ultimate resolution is a bit fuzzy. While Christopher is musing about prime numbers and trying to figure out the London Tube, there are Ed and Judy tripping over the pieces of their marriage while attempting to solve the latest Christopher problem. Watching Austgen and Murry tackle this domestic situation with such authenticity is one of the highlights of the show.

Hetzel seems born to this role and truly nails it. On the autism spectrum themselves, Hetzel’s performance was also bolstered by the addition of an autism consultant, Ben Raanan, the artistic director at the disability-affirmative Phamaly Theatre Company.

This is one of the productions that clearly had a lot of love and effort poured into it. The technical aspects merge seamlessly with the performances for a truly moving theatrical experience. Even with some of the script’s limitations in Act 2, Cowden’s direction, the outstanding cast, and the innovative visual design make “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” an A-grade production