How this Australian actor with autism got the lead role in a US stage play

‘Art is fundamentally human, and it transcends genre and medium,’ says Russell. — Photos: Instagram/Daniel Patrick Russell

It's common for theatre actors to show up on their first day of rehearsal with a few ideas about how they’d like to play the character they were hired to perform.

And then there’s Daniel Patrick Russell, who is playing the lead role of Christopher Boone in the California Centre for the Arts (CCAE) Theatricals’ San Diego premiere of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, in California, the United States.