It was a pleasure to see San Francisco Playhouse’s winning production of the multi-layered, complex, yet heartfelt “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.” Playwright Simon Stephens’ 2012 brilliant, award-winning adaptation, based on Mark Haddon’s best-selling coming-of-age 2003 novel, is just as fresh and engaging as when it was first super-successfully produced in London and New York.
The plot is about 15-year-old Christopher Boone, who has what he calls “behavioral problems” and is likely on the autism spectrum. Perfectly played by Brendan Looney, an extremely talented actor — with autism, Christopher loves math, lists, and the truth, misunderstands metaphors, and screams when anyone touches him. He fears leaving his block and has a myriad of other obsessions.
Chris lives with his imperfect father, Ed (first-rate Mark P. Robinson), who tries to cope with his son’s challenging, unemotional, yet demanding behavior. It’s just the two of them, after Chris’s mother (Liz Sklar) disappears and Chris is told that she has died.
The action of the two-act play begins when Chris finds that his neighbor’s dog has been murdered with a garden pitchfork. A Sherlock Holmes fan who also likes dogs, Chris sets out to solve the crime. Not only does he solve the dog-killing, but he also unravels startling truths about his family. Most importantly and gratifyingly, he gains valuably in self-reliance and confidence along the way.
Chris attends a “special school” with kids with various challenging learning and behavioral abilities. But his kind and sympathetic special-education teacher, Siobhan (outstanding Sophie Alawi), seems to understand him, and he trusts her the most.
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” is presented as a reading of Chris’s own writing, read aloud in segments by Siobhan, who narrates it as a play-within-a-play that Chris and his parents act out in flashbacks, among other scenes. The six fine actors (the Voices) play the other roles in Chris’s story and reflect Chris’s thoughts and emotions.
The nuanced, refined direction by Susi Damilano and the movement direction by Bridgette Loriaux do an excellent job of pulling all the play’s disparate elements together. And that’s far from an easy task. When I saw the drama in London’s West End in 2013, I was particularly taken with the high-tech stage set, which had walls of drawers and cubbies outlined in bright neon lights that opened and closed throughout the production. SF Playhouse’s smaller stage dramatically uses video, moving doorways, and stacking tables. I preferred the smaller stage where one can focus more on the actors than the glitz.
With fine acting, writing, and direction, the heartwarming and satisfying story of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” shouldn’t be missed. I highly recommend it.
And if you are curious about the derivation of the title, it’s from “The Adventure of Silver Blaze” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:
“Gregory [Scotland Yard detective]: Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?
Holmes: To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.
Gregory: The dog did nothing in the night-time.
Holmes: That was the curious incident.”
By Emily S. Mendel
© Emily S. Mendel 2025 All Rights Reserved
emilymendel@gmail.com
