Immersion

     

           The directional team made a few choices in staging the performance of The Curious of the Dog in the Night-time. In a way their version was similar to the play and the book, but it also differed.  The most significant change the directional team made was to portray the world through Christopher’s eyes. 

           The directional team chose to make the stage round.  The goal of this choice was to make the audience feel like they were immersed in Christopher’s world.  Christopher sees the world very differently than most people.  Christopher’s brain can get easily overwhelmed by the sights, sounds and smells around him.  This is an important trait in portraying Christopher’s autism. 

          The directional team speaks about finding the right way to display Christopher.  In the play and the book, he shows autistic characteristics, but it is never stated whether he has Asperger’s syndrome.  The reader only knows of certain thoughts and actions.  This must have made it hard to portray a Christopher that completely represents the book.  It seems like the directional team did a good job of understanding this and attempting to properly display Christopher and the world he sees.

           As a result of being overwhelmed, he has never left home alone.  Throughout the play, Christopher goes on a journey.  The directional team uses many different senses to display this journey to the audience.  The train station is the biggest part of this journey.  The directional team chose to represent the train station as very intimidating.  The names of stations and displayed on the ground and there are other signs scattered around the stage.  During the scene, Christopher is moving around the stage interacting with extras.  The blocking includes lifts and motions that use all areas of the stage. The spotlight is on Christopher; however there are so many other people and signs to look at that the audience gets overwhelmed. 

            By showing the audience the story through Christopher’s mind, the directional team helps show the audience his thoughts without explicitly stating them.  The directional team’s approach is closer to the book than the play.  The book is written from Christopher’s perspective, but the play is written more objectively.  The directional team differs from the book by showing the way Christopher thinks instead of through Christopher’s narration.  For example, rather than telling the audience that the train station is loud and he can’t focus.  The audience is immersed in the train station to see for themselves.

            I like the directional team’s choice of displaying the story.   I enjoy how in some scenes the stage is shown as very plain with few props and set pieces, while others include too many details to focus. I think that this is a unique approach that is unlike the way the play and book versions are written.  I think that this achieves the directional team’s goal to make the audience understand Christopher’s autism.

            By seeing Christopher’s autistic view, the audience is more likely to appreciate Christopher’s story.  Rather than questioning some of his decisions, the audience sees how he interprets the world.  By choosing to immerse the audience, the team gives the audience an entirely new perspective on the story. 

            Overall, the directional team made a few great choices about how to display Christopher and the world as he sees it.  They also did a great job attempting to achieve their goal of showing the audience the way Christopher thinks and why he acts like he does.