THEA AR TT ER
Broadway’s Most
Celebrated Play
The Curious Incident
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016
| TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 129
T he page-to-stage transfer of
Mark Haddon’s bestselling novel
The Curious Incident of the Dog in
the Night-Time made its Broadway
debut in the fall of 2014. The show tells
the story of a gifted 15-year-old named
Christopher and his journey to uncover the
mystery behind the death of his neighbor’s
dog. The 2015 Tony Award–winning play
was written by Simon Stephens, who says
that he wrote the play for four people,
its author, Mark Haddon, and his three
children, as he wanted to write about
something that his children would want
to see.
The show’s associate director Ben Klein
says that a big part of why this play has
done so well is because of its similarity
to a musical in the way it uses sound
design; projection design, such as huge
theatrical events; and choreography, as
well as incredibly intimate and moving
scenes.
Tyler Lea, the show’s star, had to spend
a month doing yoga and Pilates to get in
shape for the role, due to the intense twoand
a-half hours of choreography he
does onstage each night. When he gets
to the theater, Tyler does a 45-minute
workout of stretching and vocalizing to
prepare for the show.
This is a play for today. Christopher
represents many people; and although
he is just a boy, he sees the world
with greater clarity than most others.
Christopher views the world with a sense
of energy and detail that most of us lack.
He sees things that most of us don’t. The
play focuses on the challenges of living in
cities and the difficulties of sustaining a
family in a time of emotional dislocation.
This is a story about living with divorce
and the dynamics involved with loving
people at a time when life can be hard.
Within these struggles, Christopher is a
character that finds a capacity to love. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Curious Incident
of the Dog in the Night-Time will be at the
Straz Center in Tampa from November 8th
through the 13th.
By Frank DiLella
The Broadway hit The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time will be at the Straz Center in Tampa
from November 8th through Sunday, November 13th.
PHOTO: ALEXANDER SHARP