College student Aaron Lipp will step into his first professional theatrical production when Chance Theater in Anaheim presents “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” which opens Saturday, Sept. 30.
Not as an extra, but in the demanding lead role.
Until now, Lipp could only point to school-based performances, starting in sixth grade.
Still, at all of 20, Lipp brings both lived and theatrical experience to his portrayal of the teenaged Christopher Francis Boone.
Like Christopher, Lipp is neurodivergent, a term that means his brain, because of neurological differences, doesn’t function in the typical ways society expects.
He has quirks that can make other people nervous, and worse, mean. But his idiosyncrasies also helped make him perfect for the role, which he played for the first time in a February production of “Curious Incident” at Chapman University.
Lipp, now a junior at Chapman, was so good he won a theater department award.
His organic understanding of Christopher is exactly what director Darryl B. Hovis wanted for the Chance Theater production.
“Yes, it is a risk to cast somebody that’s an unknown,” said Hovis, a resident artist at Chance Theater for more than 20 years. “But we were really hoping to cast somebody who identified as neurodivergent. We really felt like it’s their story.”
Not ‘doing anything wrong’
Neurodivergent embraces a broad swath of conditions and behaviors, from learning disabilities to anxiety disorders.
Someone who is neurodivergent could have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Or they could be on the autism spectrum. For Lipp, it’s both.
Lipp grew up in Redwood City in the Bay Area. He was diagnosed with mild ADHD in third grade. He felt much the same as other kids until middle school, when his peers began to look at him as someone different or lesser than.
As he grew older, Lipp felt that ADHD wasn’t “quite the whole thing” going on. Then a few years ago, while working for an escape room, someone asked him if he was on the autism spectrum.
“I went, ‘Huh.’”
Through his own research and talking with other people, Lipp became convinced that some of his behaviors — such as making minimal eye contact and being oblivious to certain social cues — place him on the autism spectrum.
There’s been no formal diagnosis, but he is confident in his conclusions.
It changed how he viewed himself: “I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I was just being myself in an awkward situation.”
Christopher is like him in many regards, Lipp said.
“He struggles a bit more socially. But the thinking that he has, that’s me.
“That’s me.”
A story about difference
It’s never stated in the play or in the 2003 mystery novel it’s based on that Christopher has Asperger’s Syndrome. British novelist Mark Haddon only describes the character he created as “a mathematician with some behavioural difficulties.”
Haddon later wrote in his blog that his book is “a novel about difference, about being an outsider, about seeing the world in a surprising and revealing way.”
Hovis interprets playwright Simon Stephens’ Tony Award-winning adaptation as a “a play about somebody who happens to be neurodivergent.”
Because Lipp doesn’t have to work at trying to act like someone who is neurodivergent, “we can get right to the story,” Hovis said.
The story, set in a town an hour west of London, involves Christopher’s attempt to solve the death of a neighbor’s dog. His relationship with his widowed father, and revelations about his dead mother, drive the play.
An ever-present heart
The struggling blue-collar father is played by Casey Long, managing director at Chance Theater. It’s been six years since being on stage for Long, who oversees operations at Chance — budget, administration, marketing.
He called Lipp, who is also a math whiz, “incredible” in rehearsals.
“The value of his performance and the skill that he brings is coming much more from his talent than from being neurodivergent,” Long said.
“He plays this character who cannot be outwardly affectionate, but his heart is very present in every scene that he’s in.”
In their few weeks of rehearsal, he and Lipp formed a genuine connection. One scene in what he calls his favorite play particularly moves Long.
“I look at him and see his eyes. The way he’s responding to me just makes me immediately emotional.”
Hovis said the few challenges in directing someone who is neurodivergent mainly involved the physicality of the play and moments of intimacy.
Christopher won’t allow others to touch him at all but does so at one point with the mom. Hovis worked to make Lipp feel safe in that scene.
“That’s a challenge for Aaron because that’s a place of discomfort for him as a person,” Hovis said.
Another challenge for Lipp, who is taking full-time classes at Chapman: He is basically on stage the entire play.
“Yes, I’m going to be exhausted and tired,” Lipp said. “But I also don’t have to leave the stage and go in and out of character. I find that challenging.”
He’s excited to be paid minimum wage, $15.50 an hour, for his work in the play. He hopes to continue in stage shows once he graduates.
Acting, Lipp said, is his outlet: “It’s a way to say whatever I want to say emotionally and physically through the words and actions of another character.”
His parents will be in the audience during the run of “Curious Incident” at Chance Theater. They’re driving down for opening night and other performances.
Lipp hopes audience members themselves will feel different at the end of two and a half hours. “I want people to just care more about others around them.”
Hovis, who serves as the associate producer of the Theater for Young Audiences and director of the Teens Speak Out program at Chance, also sees the broader reach of “Curious Incident.”
“It’s really about everyone who is navigating spaces in between people that don’t quite look like us or don’t sound like us.”
‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’
Where: Chance Theater, 5522 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim
When: Previews at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22, Saturday, Sept. 23 and Friday, Sept. 29, plus 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 24; opening night 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30 and the show runs through Oct. 22 with performances at 8 p.m. Fridays, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays (not performances Saturday, Oct. 7)
Suitability: The play contains strong language and depicts violent behavior and domestic violence; lighting, video and sound effects may be intense for a person with sensory sensitivities.
Cost: $36-$39
Information: 888-455-4212; chancetheater.com
