A scene from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Photos: Supplied.
A dog is dead, a boy is accused, and nothing is as simple as it seems — and this month Wollongong Workshop Theatre will invite audiences to experience it all through the eyes of 15-year-old Christopher in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.
Director Jordan Mahar said the play was “rarely staged because of its technical challenges, both on and off the stage”, but he was determined Illawarra audiences should have the chance to see the powerful story brought to life.
Mahar said he first saw it in 2015 on Broadway, before witnessing productions in Melbourne and Sydney, each time being struck by the story’s big themes and ambitious nature of its staging.
Based on Mark Haddon’s best-selling novel, he said the play followed 15-year-old neurodivergent boy Christopher who was wrongly accused of killing his neighbour’s dog with a garden fork.
Determined to clear his name, Christopher launches his own detective-style investigation, and the audience is invited to experience the world entirely from his perspective.
“We aren’t just asking the audience to watch Christopher,” Mahar said.
“We’re inviting them to see the world through his eyes in all its overwhelming, beautiful, logical detail.
“It’s really seeing how someone like Christopher exists as a neurodivergent individual in a world that isn’t designed, or caters particularly well, for him.
“It’s really asking the audience to not just be an outsider looking in, it’s asking them, for a couple of hours, to go on a deep dive into what it feels like to be a ‘Christopher’.”
He said he chose to direct the play because of that unique perspective.
“That’s not a perspective we get to see on mainstream stages very often,” he said.
“Most shows out there are not written with diversity in mind.
“There’s a number of challenges that this show presents but, for me as a director, I’m particularly excited by the rare mix of technologically challenging stagecraft, but also the raw human emotion side of things with actors on a show like this.”
He said in an aim for authentic representation, many of the cast and crew identified as neurodivergent.
“We’ve gone above and beyond to make sure we have authentic representation to deliver this story,” he said.
“We’re confident in our ability to tell the story in a truthful and respectful way.”
However, he said the theatre wasn’t a field that catered to diversity particularly well, whether it was the number of lines performers had to remember or highly technical work required backstage.
“What we’ve done is tried to make a very technically complex and challenging show accessible to all that are involved in it,” he said.
“What that’s done is opened up avenues of opportunity for people who this story is about, to tell a story that means a lot to them,” he said.
“This play reminds us that just because someone experiences the world differently, it doesn’t mean they experience it any less deeply.
“I think this play is a masterclass in empathy.”
Boasting names such as Felix Wylla, Nick Bolton, Isobel Foye and Monica Mist, he said the 10-strong ensemble cast “feels like the Avengers” and was “a gift as a director”.
Despite Wollongong Workshop Theatre being one of the longest continuously running theatre groups in the Illawarra, being founded in the 1950s, Maher said he was relatively new to the company.
He grew up in the Illawarra but spent nearly a decade in Melbourne working across musical theatre, film and television including Foxtel’s Apples Never Fall, before directing his first play with the company only last year.
This year’s production will also extend support to the community around the themes shared on stage by partnering with ASPECT (Autism Spectrum Australia), with $1 from every ticket being donated to the organisation.
“Hopefully we can get a nice little sum together to not only deliver a story for that community, but also contribute in a meaningful way as well,” Mahar said.
Tickets are on sale for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time at The Wollongong Workshop Theatre from 20 February to 7 March.
