Simon Stephens’ stage adaptation of Mark Haddon’s 2003 best-seller “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” wowed them in London two years ago. Brad Pitt optioned it for the movies, and on Thursday the play finally opened on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
Let’s begin with what “Curious Incident” is not theater-wise. It is not a big, empty shell of a play like the 2010 British flop-transfer “Enron” or the 2011 British hit-transfer “War Horse,” which was directed by Marianne Elliott, who distracted us from the flimsiness of Nick Stafford’s play by offering up lots of humongous equine puppets.