‘Curious Incident’ dazzles

In a long run on Broadway, the working actors ride a tiger. Show biz is a tough racket — lightning in a bottle — with healthy portions of competition and risk. Salaries on Broadway are the best in the industry. And while the benefits may be generous, the professional creative satisfactions are where the sliding scales begin. Some actors stay with their shows to the end. Others move on. And, like any working stiff, the actor charged with a routine, repetitive task might feel the temptation to slack off.

That is not the case at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, where “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” is now in its 18th month on Broadway.

The show is a tight, intense journey into a new world.  

Any questions I might have had about energy and precision in this long-running production were forgotten quickly. Tyler Lea plays the young hero, and he blisters the air with fury in his quest for cohesion in an oppressive personal world.

The dramatist’s tool chest is a sturdy old bin, stuffed full of blueprints and lore. The challenge lies in finding the hit combination. Formula is no guarantee; plenty of flops have had stars and credentials galore. The big rewards of this show, always true to its nature from start to finish (we can begin with that lengthy title), make it a treasure chest for the Broadway fan.

Playwright Simon Stephens welcomes Mark Haddon’s novel into the theatre in a spectacular production out of the National Theatre in London. Marianne Elliott directed. Designers Bunny Christie (scenic and costume), Paule Constable (lighting) and Finn Ross (video) add enormous impact with a rich and lively palette.

Fans of literature should rejoice. The adaptation catapults the novel onto the stage, and it flourishes with an abundance of character and dimension, backed by a narrative to move it all smartly along. And, since some of those on-stage worlds are contorted novelties, all the more credit to the director for keeping the eruptions of stagecraft purposeful and focused. For you theatre snobs, this adaptation shows how a novel can offer a wealth of story to its brother across the campus.

Yeah, yeah, but mister, what’s the show about anyway?

 Stand back.

Love, love affairs, broken marriages, being lost, being found, the search for the truth, growing up, panic, sensory overload, a dog fatality, a kind teacher, microscopic sensitivity, rage, family, storytelling, autism and order.

I am sure that I missed a few more attributes beside the two or three I am holding back on. But I’d hate to spoil anything. You’ll enjoy the show all the more for it. With an abundance of spectacle and content, it’s no wonder that “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” won the Tony for Best Play of the Year.

And I also appreciated the rare generosity of the production team here.  Finally an answer to the ancient question: What can you do for an encore?

“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” is scheduled to run through Sunday, Sept. 4 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, located at 243 W. 47th St. in Manhattan.