Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga gets mysterious
Making sense of the world around us from an outside perspective is a challenging aspect of life that most of us are all too familiar with. Sure, we can attempt to see things from someone else’s point of view, but that can be challenging if that person sees the world in a different way than us.
If you’ve ever wanted a chance to truly experience the world through someone else’s eyes on stage, then look no further than the Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga’s production of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” which is being performed nightly through May 26 at Barking Legs Theatre.
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” is a play based on the 2003 mystery novel by British author Mark Haddon. It follows the story of Christopher, a 15-year-old boy growing up in England, and his attempt to solve the murder case of a neighbor’s dog.
The novel hints that Christopher may have Asperger syndrome, high-functioning autism, or savant syndrome, but that isn’t what the story is about; instead, it’s about seeing things from Christopher’s perspective and about understanding his differences and how he fits into the world around him.
The Ensemble Theatre’s production is directed by Garry Lee Posey, who helped found ETC in 2006 and has directed over 60 shows since then. “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” has been a show that Posey has wanted to direct since he read the novel years ago, and he’s excited to bring the show to life for the first time ever in Chattanooga.
“When I read the book 10 years ago, I was completely entranced by it. I really enjoyed it; I really liked the idea that there is this sort of underdog who is trying to figure out one thing, but then, before he knows it, he’s discovered more than he bargained for, but he had to learn those things somehow,” Posey explained. “The kind of coming of age mentality of it really excited me.”
While Posey and the cast were equally excited to start rehearsals on the show, which began about a month before the show opened last Friday, Posey said the portrayal of a lead character who is believed to be on the spectrum has been incredibly challenging.
“The book is very clear that [Christopher] is on the spectrum. The play is not so clear, but I think that to do service to that which it’s based on, you have to incorporate whatever it means to the actor, and obviously myself, the director, to be on the spectrum.”
“And so, one of the unique kind of lessons that we’ve learned in doing this show is that it’s not easy, nor necessary, nor respectful, really, to generalize what it’s like to be on the spectrum. So, what Normand [Caissie], who’s playing Christopher, and myself have been discussing is what effects of autism or being on the spectrum do we want to incorporate into this character.”
Posey explained that he talked to several different people who are involved with the Chattanooga Autism Center prior to beginning rehearsals to the show in order to get the most accurate information on the topic at hand. Posey said that one of the people he talked to was very concerned with how Hollywood is using, in his eyes, people who are on the spectrum as a topic of consideration in recent movies and television shows while not actually using those same people to perform those roles.
“At the end of the day, as a director and as an artist, I’m just a storyteller. And so I think that I put a lot of responsibility on my shoulders; I like to be very conscious and very sensitive to anyone, my audience or my actors,” Posey explained. “It’s been a fun little process of trying to figure out how to objectively tell a story about people who, from other perspectives, are subjected to lots of different opinions or understandings or various levels of connectedness. So it’s very interesting, and it’s been a very intriguing, great learning process.”
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” features a cast of nine performers, and the venue, which is Barking Legs, will help to provide the intimate experience that ETC is known for. While Posey said that ETC doesn’t typically rely heavily on technology in their shows, this performance will feature some projections, which will be interesting.
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” is being performed Thursday-Sunday nights, with matinee shows on Saturdays and Sundays. The performance runs through Saturday, May 26. If you’ve ever wanted a chance to experience this compelling and enlightening story on stage, then you definitely don’t want to miss its first-ever performance in the city by the Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga.