The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time The Play Edition

Recently, my classmates and I went into New York City to see the play "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" on Broadway. I had a lot of fun going into New York City with all my friends. I even got a cute little button with a face on it because I won a game that they play at the show. However, despite how much fun I had, I had mixed felling about how they  adapted the book into a play.
I really enjoyed the fact that they tried to simulate the mind of an autistic person for the audience by playing loud noises and bright lights randomly. I also liked how the stage was set up as a giant grid, because this is an excellent way to reflect how much Christopher loves numbers and how integral they are to his ways of thinking. I also thought that it was super inventive that they used a screen that could have images that correspond to the plot rejected as the backdrop of the scene. This made a very interesting way around having very limited amounts of props, set pieces, and actors. My favorite part was when Christopher was looking for Toby and almost got run over by the train, because they got to use a lot of different projections and kinds of lights to make the set seem realistic for the audience. The only part of the play that I enjoyed more was when Christopher got Sandy, because Sandy was one of the cutest puppies I have ever seen and I loved how happy Christopher got when he got Sandy.
I did have some problems with the adaption, despite the parts that I greatly admired. I think that Mr. Shears is presented as a nicer character and more sympathetic than in the novel. This was greatly disappointing, because Mr. Shears is the main villain in the novel and the play presented him as a sarcastic guy that was placed in a difficult situation, instead of the abusive, drunk monster he was in the book. I also thought that the acrobatics that were part of the play were kind of strange and I didn't really like them. I'll admit that they were cool, but they mostly felt random, out of place distractions for the audience that served legitimately no purpose whatsoever.  It also ignores the fact that Christopher states several times throughout the show that he hates to be touched. I also was kind of let down by the large amount of humor that they added to the show, because it kind of takes away from how serous the story is.
Overall, I really enjoyed seeing the play on Broadway. It gave me a lot of insight into different ways to stage plays that I would never think of, especially that acrobatics thing, because I am a stickler for sticking to the basic points of the plot. I also thought it was so cool to be able to see a book be brought to life before our eyes, because bringing things from people's imagination to life is one of my favorite parts of theater.

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