From April 18-22, the SRU Theater Department presented the play “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.” It ran for 2 hours and 15 minutes with a 15-minute intermission.
The play was directed by Burton Tedesco, an assistant professor of theatre at SRU.
“I saw the production on Broadway in New York years ago…so ever since then I’ve been very interested in working on the piece,” Tedesco said.
The play is based on a novel by Mark Haddon with the same title and follows the story of a 15-year-old with autism as he tries to solve the mystery of the murder of his neighbor’s dog.
To educate audiences about the play’s topic, screens in the waiting area included facts and figures regarding neurodivergent individuals.
“It’s this sort of stylized piece, so it’s told through Christopher, our main character’s, perspective, meaning that it jumps time and location very abruptly. It’s sort of seen from a perspective of somebody with autism, and that’s what we’re trying to do with the production as well,” Tedesco said. “As opposed to realism that you might see on film or other plays, this has a bit of a stylized approach to things.”
The performance is designed to be sensory friendly. The Saturday evening show further accommodated individuals who are sensitive to certain sensory elements.
Ushers held glow sticks in the air when potentially difficult content or bright lights/sounds occurred. House lights stayed up to lessen the effects and make it more accessible to enter or leave the theater.
The department’s goal was to be able to make this show accessible to all individuals. They collaborated with professionals from SRU’s Special Education Department among other faculty.
All four of the shows had sensory support material, including headphones, fidget toys and a decompression center in the lobby.
“I remember thinking how loud things were [when first seeing the show], how bright and sharp the lights were, and feeling unsettled in the theatre,” Tedesco said. “Because I don’t live in, experience, a world of autism, I didn’t understand at first that that was everyday life for some people.”
He claimed it was important to replicate this experience in the production.
“In the discussion with the other designers…we were making a choice to give the experience of what it’s like to live with autism to people that don’t have it,” Tedesco said. However, the director was concerned this could pose potential difficulties.
“It might alienate people that do [have autism], it would be too much sense to sit through,” he said. “From that conversation, we did some research, and we looked at other productions and the way that other theaters do sensory friendly performances. We came up with our own plan…to scale that down to something that’s more accessible for more people.”
The production team has been working on keeping the spirit of the story while reducing some of the technical elements.
“The sensory friendly performance actually changes some of the cues of the technical elements that we’re working on, and pulls some of those levels and things down to something that would be perhaps easier for people to sit through,” Tedesco said. “I’m glad that there’s been a push in the industry in general to figure out ways to tell the story and also include more audiences.”
The show was attended by community members, SRU students and others. Those who related to the topic of the play reported a feeling of acceptance.
“Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime” was the final show of the 2024-2025 SRU Theatre season. The following show season will include at least five performances.
If individuals are interested in donating to the department, they can do so through SRU’s website.
“Your tax-deductible donation will support future guest artists, productions and student travel,” the program said.
