Zoetic Stage’s latest offering, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Simon Stephens, is a Tony award-winning play that dives into the extraordinary mind of Christopher, a 15 year old boy on the autism spectrum. The play features the work of several FIU Theatre faculty and alumni.
Senior Instructor and FIU Theatre alumna, Marina Pareja, was the Costume Designer for the show. This is her second show with Zoetic Stage. The show has a small ensemble cast playing numerous characters, which presented a challenge for Pareja.
“A lot of these changes happen very quickly in the wings or in a corner of the stage,” she says. “So the challenge was creating a whole new person with only one or two costume pieces.”
Associate Professor Rebecca Covey was the show’s Vocal Coach, assisting the actors with contemporary British dialects, including West Country and Estuary as well as speech patterns related to Autism. This is her sixth show with Zoetic Stage.
“It was very rewarding to help the actors find authentic voices. Some actors play several different roles and each character needed a distinct sound. It was satisfying to apply my research on neurodiversity to my dialect coaching,” Covey said. She is looking forward to coaching the next show at Zoetic, Sweeny Todd.
BJ Duncan, FIU Theatre’s Facilities Manager and an alumnus of the program, is in his third season as Zoetic Stage’s Technical Director. As the Technical Director, he oversees all of the show’s technical requirements including the load-in and load-out of the set.
“I have really enjoyed my time working with Zoetic Stage,” says Duncan. “The artistic direction of the company, along with the entire artistic and production team have been a dream to work with. It has been both greatly challenging and rewarding. It has allowed me another avenue to work in this field that I love.”
Zack Myers, an FIU Theatre alumnus, is in the acting ensemble. The show’s quick pace requires him and the rest of the ensemble to step in and out of roles quickly. Myers plays a step-dad, a cop, and other characters. The Zoetic Stage production is the second time he performs in the show, following up last year’s production at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis.
“This is a very special play,” he says. “It lets us see the world through the eyes of someone on the spectrum. It truly lets us have an experience outside of our own.”
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time is playing at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts through Sunday, February 3rd. For tickets and more information, visit www.zoeticstage.org.
