On opening night in Ben Lomond’s Mountain Community Theater, an ensemble of actors casually took the stage as though they were just hanging out and remained on stage for the duration of the show, only leaving momentarily during intermission. “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” has a lot of layers to it. It is a dramatic character sketch that follows Christopher, played by Wyatt Troxell, a young mathematical genius with an unspecified disability, as he sets out to uncover the truth about his neighbor’s dog and his own living situation. It is also a play within a play as Christopher’s teacher Siobhan, acted by Megan Stewart, narrates by reading the script Christopher has developed about his adventures. Meanwhile, most of the cast watches the action of the play from the stage like a chorus of supportive onlookers mirroring the role of the audience.

This surreal framing of events amplifies the emotional intensity of the scenes with the cast adding their own reactions to the unfolding circumstances of a very sensitive, smart and loving savant. Troxell has a lot of heavy lifting to do with the lead and demonstrates considerable skill in hitting the beats of a decidedly off-beat character. Portraying a character with this kind of neurological difference requires intelligence, empathy and skill, and Troxell employs plenty of each. At the end of the show, it was the acting that mattered most. Kudos to Simon Hayward for creating a visually interesting set without detracting from the importance of the actors. The living breathing humans on stage are what make live theater so compelling, and they were the focus of this production, entirely.

Because there are scenes of abuse, both as violence and neglect, the script asks for some mighty tall leaps from the actors. Mark Matthews plays Ed Boone, Christopher’s father, who is a far from perfect parent (major understatement), but one who deeply cares. In many ways, this play is about the challenges of parenting and communication and Matthews manages to show this conflicted set of emotions convincingly. The character Ed, after all, is simply not equipped to deal with the challenges his son poses resulting in some absolutely unacceptable reactions and poor decisions. While it would be easy to portray this character simply as a monster, the harder and more interesting choice is to lay bare his humanity despite his rage. With Hayward’s direction, Matthews puts a lot of vulnerability on the line in his emotional portrayal of a struggling single father.

Christopher’s mother, Judy, is equally inept to deal with and complicit in worsening Christopher’s situation. Self-aware enough to understand her serious limitations as a parent, she abandons her family and moves to London with another man. Sonia Motlagh gives this heavy role a potent dose of remorse. Her grief over her failures as a mother culminates in a moment of confession that is amplified by the narrator Siobhan, Christopher’s teacher and pseudo-mother figure, reciting the same lines with the same sense of urgency. This maternal lament elevates from an admission of guilt into a kind of archetypal cry of regret. Christopher is often overwhelmed by his sensory and emotional surroundings and this staging brings the audience into this feeling of being smothered by the circumstances and setting.

Having the other cast members play multiple roles adds to the sense of overwhelm and confusion. They are always there and it is difficult to remember exactly who they are. Like Christopher, we are unsure if they are friends or strangers. Helene Simkin Jara opens the play as a neighbor, Mrs. Shears, screaming obscenities at Christopher. It is her dog, after all, who has had the “incident.” Later, when she plays Mrs. Gascoyne (headmistress of Christopher’s school) it is hard not to remember her vitriol. Her hurt and misdirected anger colors her other parts in the succeeding scenes.

The same is true for all six of the ensemble who each embody a certain quality of feeling that Christopher experiences on his quest. Brad Roades, Mathew Chipman, Jackson Wolffe, Molly Meyers and LeAnne Ravinale join Simkin Jara as a choir of guardian angels and tormenting ghouls. Animated through their admirable acting, this play becomes a powerful meditation on what it might be like to live in a world that is hard to conceive as someone who is sensitive, brilliant and badly misunderstood. Mountain Community Theater has shown us once again what is possible with community theater in this second production of their 43rd year. “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” continues Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. To purchase tickets, visit mctshows.org/buy-tickets.