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Actor Josh Horn discovers Wellington, his neighbor’s dog, dead in the garden.

The cast of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime” rehearses a scene.

Ron Copeland and Josh Horn connect during a rare peaceful moment in “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.”

Actor Josh Horn discovers Wellington, his neighbor’s dog, dead in the garden.

The cast of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime” rehearses a scene.

Ron Copeland and Josh Horn connect during a rare peaceful moment in “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.”

A new show at Winchester Little Theatre has brought some changes to the stage this fall with some high-tech storytelling choices.

Starring 17-year-old high school junior Josh Horn as Christopher, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime” is “an incredibly demanding show,” said director Sally Anderson.

Based on the award-winning novel by Mark Haddon, the story, by Simon Stephens, follows 15-year-old Christopher Boone, a mathematical genius who uses prime numbers to help him find order in a chaotic world. After he discovers his neighbor’s dog was murdered, he decides to investigate the death even though his father forbids it.

“The actor is a gift from Heaven,” Anderson said.

Josh, who recently performed in both of WLT’s summer children’s theater productions, said this is one of his first adult theater productions.

In addition to performing with an otherwise entirely adult cast, he’s portraying a lead character who is struggling with an unclassified type of autism.

“I just try to relate to him as much as possible,” said Josh, who attends James Wood High School.

Playing on the patterns that Christopher uses to make sense of disorder in his life, the set design uses a grid of lights throughout the show to help tell the story.

“There is a huge amount of suspension of disbelief, and I love it,” Anderson said.

For example, instead of portraying the dead dog with a prop, she instead illustrates the murder with a tape outline and a garden fork standing perpendicular to the stage grid.

“Suspension of disbelief is what I think theater is all about,” Anderson said.

It’s especially useful for a black box theater like WLT, which has its seats set up around three quarters of the stage instead of in a more standard auditorium seating setup in front of the stage.

“In this theater, you don’t observe,” she said. “You become a part of what is happening.”

Another deviation from typical WLT shows is that all of the actors are on stage for the entire two-act play.

As Christopher tells his play-within-a-play, each of the other characters inhabits their respective squares, pulling props from storage stools as they portray various voices in his life and imagination.

Trish Epperson plays Siobhan, Christopher’s teacher who helps him find ways to navigate his world and adapt to society.

Part teacher, part companion, Epperson said, “She’s also his inner voice and outer confidence.”

Rhonda Markland plays Christopher’s mother, Judy, and Ron Copeland plays his father, Ed.

Portraying additional voices throughout the story are Rachel Short, Christopher Lee Short, Matt Herter, Bill Taylor, Rebecca Balcom and Amy Thomas.

Because of the play’s story-within-a-story format, it offers several takeaways that Anderson said audiences might notice differently on multiple viewings.

This is a show that you can see many times, she said, since each of the characters has a different journey. It’s also appropriate for all ages, she said.

Though the play is new to WLT, she pointed out that Shenandoah University will be performing the show Nov. 17 to 20. Because of the many ways the play can be interpreted and designed and the fact that SU will hold its performances in its Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre, she said it’s possible the school will go for a totally different stage design, such as the highly choreographed production she saw performed at The Kennedy Center.

“It is a show that is filled with choices,” Anderson said.

After reading the book and seeing the D.C. performance, Anderson said she knew that “Winchester Little Theatre could do this if we got brave with how the whole grid thing worked.”

The play’s technology “was my choice,” she said, and it’s “essential” to telling the story on the small stage.

The grid lines on the floor light up with various colors throughout the show, and a wall-mounted TV screen enhances Christopher’s story through creative visuals. The show also makes use of its recently improved sound design to portray plot deviations like a train arriving at a train station.

Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Anderson said, “We went for every single grant that we could get ahold of.”

Using recently obtained grant funding, they updated their sound design and have plans for redoing their LED lights.

“Our technological abilities have just transformed what we’re capable of doing,” she said.

Anderson also touted the skills of sound designer Jamie Mereness, lighting designer Heather Fredericks and technology wiz on both lighting and sound, high school senior Joey Besant.

“We have leaped from being capable to being a professional [level theater] with what we have,” Anderson said.

“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime” will run from Sept. 9 to 24 at Winchester Little Theatre, 315 W. Boscawen St.

Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Thursday and at 2 p.m. Sunday and on Sept. 17.

Tickets are $21 for adults, $19 for seniors 62 and older and $14 for K-12 and college students. The box office is open from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday and Wednesday.

Contact the theater at 540-662-3331 or at winchesterlittletheatre.org.

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