After seeing Mickey Rowe’s audition tape, director Risa Brainin flew across the country to Seattle to meet and cast him for “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.”

Auditions for the production took place in Chicago and New York City, as well as via video submissions. Of all the actors, Brainin said she and the casting crew felt his performance was the strongest and most genuine.

The Tony Award-winning play by Simon Stephens will open at the Syracuse Stage/Department of Drama Complex on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The play, which was co-produced with the Indiana Repertory Theatre, finished a run in Indianapolis earlier this month.

Rowe, a Seattle-based performer, is the first actor with autism to play the show’s lead character with autism, Christopher Boone.

“I listened to the book on tape and I just felt so many similarities to the character,” Rowe said. “I didn’t know that anyone else did those things or felt that way.”

Brainin said she cast the lead actor for his versatility, including his background in circus arts, charisma and intelligence.

“Theater is a place of unlimited imagination and unlimited opportunity, and I think that Mickey really embodies that idea,” said Bob Hupp, artistic director at Syracuse Stage.

Performing alongside Rowe is a cast featuring an ensemble of nine — many of whom perform several roles throughout the play.

“It’s a very rich, dense, complex piece that wants to feel easy and simple,” Brainin said. “Making something look simple is the hardest thing to do because you have to be so strategic about every choice that you make.”

Although the director was “mesmerized by all the technical elements” of the Broadway production, she decided to execute a show design that highlights the text itself.

“I really wanted to put the focus on the actors and on the language,” Brainin said. “The Broadway set had a lot of tricks and surprises, and ours is much more streamlined in terms of the theatricality.”

Sunday’s performance at the Syracuse Stage/Department of Drama Complex will feature a post-show discussion between cast members and the audience. Rowe said the discussion, which also took place when the crew performed in Indiana, was his favorite memory so far.

“It’s just so nice to get to connect with people and process the show with people afterwards in that way,” Rowe said.

Published on October 24, 2017 at 11:35 pm

Contact Haley: hrober03@syr.edu