Fall play review

                    Review of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime 

The play that we watched is named The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, and it was performed at the Black Box in Cheshire Academy last weekend ( Nov. 15th). The student director is Olivia Williamson and the major actors are Amelia Williams, Olivia Williamson, William Lempling and Pacifica Yang.

The story of this play is about a boy named Christopher, who is an autistic child and wants to find out who killed the dog Willington, which is a dog from his neighbor. During the process, he finds out that it is actually his dad ED who killed the dog and this makes Christopher have mistrust on him. Also, he discovered that his mom actually didn't die, after that he went to London by himself and wants to live with his mom Judy. Then Judy took him back and let Christopher took the A level test. In the end, ED finally apologizes to Christopher and give him a dog as a gift to show that he can trust him. The theme is about the breakdown and re-repair of the relationship between parents and children in a family. There are many conflicts between these characters. For example, at the beginning of the story, Christopher wants to find out the murderer but ED wants him to stop and don't get into trouble. Obviously, Christopher did not want to follow his father's request for him, which also led to a greater contradiction between them. Finally, after discovering the murderers, their relationship broke down completely. 

The perform is pretty good, Some of the stick figures on the wall around the stage left a deep impression on me. This is also a place I think this show makes me feel particularly interesting. Some stick figures on the wall have dogs, many mathematical formulas, and rockets and stars that represent the universe. These patterns are some of the patterns that can represent Christopher's personal characteristics. The dog's pattern represents the center that caused the whole story and contradictions, the dog that was killed, Wellington. Those mathematical patterns and formulas also represent that Christopher is very good at math and likes it. And the rockets and stars that represent the universe show Christopher's inner activity and thinking in my opinion. Christopher seems to me to be a child with autism. On the other hand, his thoughts and behaviors cannot be predicted and recognized by ordinary people. This is equivalent to a lonely planet in the universe.

The scene that impressed me the most was Christopher remembering his mother and when they met again in London with Judy. Christopher's memories show that he has a very good memory and time with Judy. The actor also performed very well. Judy guided Christopher with action and a positive tone to let him play with her in the sea. There is a very interesting detail in the encounter in London, that is, Christopher and Judy touched the palm of their hand, as they did during childhood. This plot shows two points. The first is Christopher's love and trust for Judy. He can accept Judy's physical contact with him, which no one else can do. The second point is that he does have a tendency to be autistic because he has resisted Judy's hug after he has not seen her for many years. As an audience, these scenes make me feel that Christopher has a positive impression on Judy, Judy will become a key for Christopher to repair family relationships.

I think the actor of ED is the best one. When I read the script, ED was a very easy-to-get angry character, but he regretted his own behavior towards Christopher and was very emotional. The actor showed this very well. One part of the plot is the ED's objection to Christopher's investigation of the murderer. During this period, ED constantly expressed his impatient emotions, and at the same time wanted to stop Christopher's investigation both in language and behavior. However, after he completed his angry behavior, the actor will show a state of regret and annoyance and will apologize to Christopher. This excellent performance gives the audience a perfect description of the character of the ED, which is more relevant to the audience.

I really like and enjoy this performance very much, and I think other audiences feel the same as me. This time, I realized that not only the lines and tone of the actors are very important to the performance of a character, but also the stage layout and body movements are very important.