To kickstart the opening night of the 2021 fall play, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, there, lying on the stage, was a stuffed dog with a pitchfork stabbed in its side. 

The dog, Wellington, was mysteriously stabbed in Mrs. Shears’ (senior Abby Berlin) garden in the night time. Unfortunately, Christopher Boone (sophomore Jonathan Mossner), was found at the scene of Wellington’s death. 

Jonathan, an up-and-coming theatre phenomenon, took the lead role as Christopher—a big move on his part but an even bigger accomplishment. This is Jonathan’s very first high school play, and he executed a very tricky and complicated role with great dignity. His exceptional performance reinforced the engagement of the audience and kept us from being tirelessly bored. 

From the suspense built from senior Russel Baird’s performance as Christopher’s dad, Ed Boone, to seniors Ivan Wheland and Benji Zorn’s scene as Manchester fans, never was there a time that I wasn’t left with a million thoughts. A million good thoughts were sparked from the interesting portrayal of each of the roles. No matter who played which role, they were the reason why the play never got old. 

Sophomore Gia Monteruso, Christopher’s teacher, Siobhan, was perfect in the way she narrated each scene and comforted Christopher. In the performance, Gia played the important role of being there for Christopher when times were rough–Siobhan was his go-to safe person. 

Unlike Siobhan, Christopher’s mother, Judy Boone (senior Desiree Tuohy), enraged Christopher with her contradicting statements and conflicting actions. Nonetheless, Desiree practically became Judy. She took her role very seriously, and because Desiree became so into her role, it added another layer of beautiful charisma to a woman with such an ugly personality. 

With roughly eight weeks to pull The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time together, FHC Theatre presented an unforgettable play with no mistakes. It takes hard work and skills that only certain people possess, and I am beyond proud of the work and dedication to this year’s play. There’s nothing like seeing my classmates get up on stage and put on a show that brings out a whole other side of them. 

Watching the talented cast members perform The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time made me realize how strong they truly are. Recognizing the pride in the show is what made this such an enjoyable watch. Of course, without the unsung heroes of FHC Theatre, the crew members, the play would’ve never been one to start with. 

Without the phenomenal work that the crew members do, my favorite scenes from the production would have never existed. The usage of the changing colors as the background struck me. I love vivacious colors that add a pop of creativity to a scene, even if that scene involved Christopher thinking about who killed Wellington. 

To see how FHC Theatre reacts to Wellington’s death, this weekend, in the FHC Auditorium, go check out The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in it’s last few showings before the 2021 fall play officially comes to an end.