'Curious Incident' happens on stage

TexRep ends season with mystery within a mystery

Members of the Texarkana Repertory Company rehearse their upcoming production of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" at Texarkana College's Stilwell Theatre. The weekend performances will run on Feb. 8-10 and Feb. 15-17.
Members of the Texarkana Repertory Company rehearse their upcoming production of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" at Texarkana College's Stilwell Theatre. The weekend performances will run on Feb. 8-10 and Feb. 15-17.

TexRep concludes the season with a fascinating mystery of sorts, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" Feb. 8-10 and 15-17.

Friday and Saturday shows start at 7:30 p.m., while Sunday matinees start at 2 p.m. at Stilwell Theatre on the Texarkana College campus.

The play is adapted from Mark Haddon's wildly popular novel of the same name, which won all sorts of awards after being published in 2003. The theatrical adaptation, which is penned by Simon Stephens, also proved to be an award winner with Olivier Awards and Tony Awards, among others.

"It's a mystery. Starts out as a murder mystery and then turns into another one," said TexRep's director, Michael Cooper, adding, "It's about a young man who falls within the autistic spectrum." He's Christopher, a brilliant kid.

"He does not do people. He can't be touched, and he doesn't get word play. He hates metaphors because metaphors are lies," Cooper said. He doesn't enjoy chatting either. He lives in a boxed-up world where everything is safe.

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"He only sees people as whole people if they are people who are totally in his life," Cooper said. The play will give theatergoers an experience informed by Christopher's unique perspective, as if through his eyes.

Although Christopher lives in a safe place with established routines, discovering a neighbor's dog who's been killed draws him out of this safety.

"It's routine until this murder happens and he decides to investigate, and within his investigation it leads him to other places. He has to leave the box," Cooper said. He leaves his English town and goes to a London train station, which is "totally sensory overload," he said.

"We do that within the play all of a sudden with the lights, the sound and the booming voices and stuff, how he experiences that sort of thing," Cooper said.

Christopher, who enjoys Sherlock Holmes a lot, goes into detective mode when he finds the dog. This adventure leads to a deeper one.

The lead role is double cast with Austin Alford and Gabe Lohse playing Christopher. Around them is an ensemble of actors, most of whom are dressed in black. When they become a character, they simply add a piece.

"Because that's how he perceives them," Cooper said of Christopher. "He does grow and change as the play goes on."

Although the subject matter is serious, plenty of comedy is included here. "It's a pretty feel-good ending," Cooper said, noting both his leads are really good actors but approaching the character differently.

"So it's really exciting at rehearsals because they're both really good," Cooper said. "There's no one is right, the other's wrong." He says if anyone sees the play twice with each different actor, it will be two different plays, in a way.

Six of the actors play several characters, too. "Everyone's on stage practically the whole show, and so they change on stage," Cooper said about transforming from one character to the next.

All of this is a mystery, and for the protagonist the entire world changes. "He makes discoveries about himself and his family," Cooper said.

To see the mystery and Christopher's character growth, check out TexRep's upcoming performances.

(Tickets: $15 for adults, $12 for students and seniors, $5 for Texarkana College students and faculty. Tickets and more information at TexRep.org or call 903-831-7827. The Stilwell Theatre is located on the Texarkana College campus, 2500 N. Robison Road in Texarkana, Texas.)

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