STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK

PHOTO BY GARY HOFFMAN

Christopher Boone is a 15-year-old mathematical genius. But, as an autistic teenager, he hates being touched, is bewildered by the common clichés of small talk and goes into cataclysmic tantrums when someone violates his rigidly ritualized world.

Still, he says he possesses an advantage over others.

“I see everything,” he says. “Most other people are lazy.”

That leads Boone to “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” as he finds himself  trying to unravel the mystery of the murder of the dog next door.

Viewers will get the chance to see what happens next when Royal Larkspur Players presents Simon Stephens’ adaptation of Mark Haddon’s book, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.” The play won the 2015 Tony Award for Best Play.

The play will start at 7 p.m. Monday, March 12, and Tuesday, March 13, in the Silver Creek Room of Ketchum’s Limelight Hotel.

Admission is free but donations will be accepted on behalf of the Wood River Chapter of NAMI-National Alliance on the Mentally Ill.

The play features a cast of 10, including two Equity actors, a school counselor, a high school junior, an Episcopal priest, the tech head of Cox Communications, an English teacher and the CEO of NAMI.

Sixteen-year-old Beckler Thomas will play Christopher. Other cast members are Laurie Strand, Joel Vilinsky, Lyn Crandall, Shawnna Schmidt, Rhett Jones, John Thomas, Gary Hoffman, Christina Cernansky and Mother Lea.

The play forces viewers to adopt the point of view of someone with whom they may initially feel as if they have little in common, said Director Gary Hoffman.

Hoffman said he and his wife Connie, who stitched together the dog in the play, saw the play in Amsterdam last fall and decided it was a work they had to bring to the Wood River Valley.

It didn’t hurt that Hoffman had just accepted a role as medical director for the local NAMI chapter, taking a seat on the board along with several other new board members.

“The Curious Incident’ is a marvelous way of calling attention to the different ways that people process information and act on it,” said Hoffman. “Here, the playwright does a splendid job of putting each of us inside the head of a high-functioning autistic 15-year-old who does poorly in social situations and has various phobias and dislikes but has marvelous abilities in math and science. This is the story of how he comes to terms with his challenges by using his strengths.”

Hoffman and Jay Cutler have collaborated to project scenes on the screen behind the actors to help the audience understand where the action is taking place. Music, sound and lighting effects will represent Chris’s state of mind during the play.

NAMI board members and volunteers will be available to tell guests more about NAMI and its programs during a 15-minute intermission and afterwards.

NAMI-WRV offers several free support groups and classes to educate families and others about mental illness.

The organization recently received a $9,500 donation from 100 Men Who Care, a philanthropic organization in the Wood River Valley. The organization is using the funds to continue its Stigmafree campaign to bring public awareness to mental health issues that the community struggles with, as well as its ongoing well-being programs and support groups, said the organization’s Board Chair Chris Koch.

Christina Cernansky, who has spent the past year as a consultant to NAMI-WRV, was recently appointed its executive director. Before moving to Idaho she advocated for mental wellness for veterans and pushed for broader acceptance of animal therapy among the mental health provider.

She recently traveled with members of the local chapter to Boise to discuss funding for mental health issues with legislators.

“We need more funding and support to help families struggling with the variety of mental illnesses in all of their forms,” said Rep. Sally Toone. “NAMI’s outreach to educate families is something I am happy to support. Being a former schoolteacher, their Bluebirds program (for high school students) is such a great example of highlighting the importance of their work in all age levels.”

Cernansky is supported by a board composed of Hoffman; Michael David, a Ketchum City Councilman; Chris Koch, Bellevue Mayor, and Elaine Niedrich, a small business owner. Other board members include retired attorneys Tamara Barnes and Neil Morrow; Daniel Hansen, marketing coordinator for the Sun Valley Summer Symphony; Claudia Mohr, concierge with Visit Sun Valley and Tamra Thrall-Kaplan, a small business owner.

Unfortunately, Hoffman said, mental dysfunction, phobias and anxieties have always been with us and are perhaps getting worse.

“I want to make sure everyone knows what NAMI stands for,” he added.