Advanced Acting investigates “a strange incident” – the Piedmont Highlander

Everyone knows that the best plays are those that keep the audience's gaze on the stage every second of the performance while shedding light on an important topic: Advanced Acting's fall play offers both.

This fall, the Advanced Acting class will perform “The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime” at the Alan Harvey Theater November 14-16 at 7 p.m.

The play's marketing manager, Junior Sparrow Lieu, said the play, written by Simon Stevens, was based on the best-selling crime novel by Mark Haddon.

“[The play] “Follows Christopher Boone, a 15-year-old boy who sets out on an enchanting expedition after discovering his neighbor’s dead dog, Wellington,” said Lieu. “This play takes the viewer into Christopher’s vivid inner world as he seeks to discover and uncover the mystery of Wellington’s death and, along the way, uncover the mystery in his own life.”

Advanced acting teacher Kim Taylor and director of the play said she chose this play because it highlights a character who is neurodivergent, something she wants to bring more awareness about in the community.

“I think this piece in particular promotes empathy and helps show someone who sees the world in a really unique way,” said Mary Schickedanz, associate director.

Taylor said the play also deals with themes such as family conflict, betrayal and different perspectives.

“I think it's a great story about how differences in people's minds can affect their relationships with each other, not just the differences between the main characters, but also how messy families in general can be,” junior Collin Cameron said.

Cameron will play the lead role, Christopher Boone. Although Cameron has been on the backstage team since his freshman year, he is a newcomer to the stage.

“Originally I was more behind the scenes working on lighting and things like that, but being immersed in all the acting practices and all that made me realize it was something I really enjoyed and I decided to do it Pursue it,” Cameron said.

Although it's Cameron's first time on stage, he's already made an impression on his fellow cast members.

“Working with Collin, who is neurodivergent himself, was great. [especially] I see him embodying Christopher,” junior Alison Atanasio said.

In addition to the students preparing to be on stage, there were also students preparing behind the scenes. Lieu said this piece is unique from a technical, artistic and visual perspective.

“This play is super cool because it uses a lot of moving and creative staging, so the play doesn't actually use that many sets or props,” Lieu said. “There are a lot of really cool moves and lifts.”

A stunt choreographer has been added to help the cast prepare for more action-intensive scenes in the play.

“We do these lifts for certain scenes where I'm being carried around or we're doing somersaults and stuff,” Cameron said. “There are also a few minor fights and so on between the characters.”

The stage production course also supports advanced students in preparing for the play.

“They work on the projections, they work on the sets, they work on the sound,” Schickedanz said.

Senior Nasreen Schulze said that even though she isn't in the acting class, she helps draw digital sets for it

The piece is projected and used as a backdrop, as opposed to typical painted stage sets.

“It’s the overall concept of the piece,” Schulze said. “It focuses more on projections than paintings.”

Since Advanced Acting only has two weeks left to prepare for the play, they have been working to stay on schedule.

“Almost all [rehearsal is] in class, except Tuesday rehearsal,” said Schickedanz. “On Tuesday evenings, all the actors come and rehearse at different times, and then we will have evening rehearsals almost every day for the two to three weeks before the play.”

The cast and crew said they were looking forward to opening night.

“I’m excited to see how it turns out,” Cameron said. “I hope we can have the same impact [as professional productions].”

Taylor said she hopes that by watching the play, students can deepen their understanding of perspective and understanding.

“We're trying to highlight what it's like to look at the world through someone else's eyes,” Taylor said.