Partners for Work Program

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 Skils'kin Sponsorship Night at Spokane Civic Theatre

Friday, March 22, 7:30 PM 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a play based on a book of the same name. It’s been an international hit on the stage since 2013 and was a Tony winner for Best Play in 2015, now it is coming to Spokane Civic Theatre. The play’s main character is a 15-year-old young man named Christopher. He has an extraordinary brain. The play follows him through a restless investigation of the world around him that leads to an earth-shattering discovery that will change his life forever. While it might not be clear from this brief description, this play holds a very special place in the Skils’kin community. From the beginning of the play, it’s clear that Christopher is different than the other characters. He feels lost in a world where everyone else has a place, cared for by some but isolated by the rest, he’s deafeningly smart but ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. While the play never states it, it could be speculated that Christopher is on the Autism spectrum. 

Spokane Civic Theatre has been one of Skils’kin’s custodial customers for over a year. Quickly they’ve become meaningful community partners as they welcomed and embraced our Commercial Services employees into their culture. When The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was slated to be performed Skils’kin was one of the first to be brought in as a sponsor. The connections continued as the production was being directed by Skils'kin's own Melody Deatherage. 

Throughout her childhood Melody found her passion for theater in school. She went on to study theater at Eastern Washington University and found Spokane Civic Theatre as a community where she was free to express herself. Her first role at The Civic was Titania from Shakespeare’s classic play A Midsummers Night’s Dream. From then on Melody has followed her passions of acting and directing and has been a part of over 50 productions at The Civic. She says when acting there is a sense of liberation as she is able to directly connect to the audience, but directing has a variety of other rewards as she is responsible for almost every aspect of the production. Melody says the goal of her productions is to make an emotional impact on the audience. The cast and crew are a diverse group of people coming together to work towards a common goal, each show is meant to communicate thoughts and emotions that create a lens through which the audience sees a part of the world. In a show like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, the thoughts, and emotions communicated to the audience are unique to the disability community. Throughout the show, Christopher is met with barriers that most people don’t understand from first-hand experience. It allows the audience to witness these challenges playing out on the stage, and they get a chance to see and begin to understand them without judgment. The Civic is truly a community that is committed to telling the stories of everyone. Melody recognizes that a show like this would never be possible without the commitment of every single person involved, and feels honored to direct this production.  

Through Skils’kin’s co-sponsorship of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, we are offering discounted tickets to Skils'kin employees for the opening night show, as well as an exclusive mixer event before the show. This event, discount, and deep connection to our community theater would not be possible without Melody. 

Join us for Skils’kin Sponsorship Night at Spokane Civic Theatre’s opening night production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time on March 22nd at 7:30 pm, or any other showing from March 22nd-April 14th on Thursdays through Sundays.