Most Metro review: ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’

Inquisitive autistic British teenager Christopher Boone, an introverted lover of math, rodents and the Rubik’s cube, overcomes adversity with empowering fortitude in Simon Stephens’ compelling 2012 drama “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” currently receiving a terrific regional collegiate premiere at Wright State University in the Festival Playhouse of the Creative Arts Center.

Based on the 2003 novel by Mark Haddons and directed with deft sharpness by Marya Spring Cordes, “Curious Incident” places the audience directly into the brilliantly busy and detailed mind of Christopher (an exceptional Colin Hodgkin), who is determined to figure out who killed his neighbor’s dog, Wellington. He faithfully records his findings in a special book, which serves as the narrative focus for the show’s play-within-a-play framework often recounted by his supportive teacher Siobhan (Kaitlyn Campbell, warm and pleasant). But in a savvy twist, his fascinating detective pursuit becomes so much more than a search for truth about Wellington. There are hurtful secrets and lies to unravel within his own family requiring him to shed his innocence and take matters into his own hands, leading him beyond his comfort zone for the first time in his life in spite of the fact he’s fearful of touch and distrusts strangers due to his condition.

Read the review from Dayton Most Metro.