An evening of meta-theater at the KC Rep, courtesy of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

How does a playwright adapt a book within a book for the stage?

For Simon Stephens, the answer was obvious: turn it into a book within a play within a play.

If that idea gives you hives, you’re not alone. I’m one of those sour husks for whom winking meta-theater seems as fresh and exciting as day-old Wonderbread.

But I’d urge you to buy a ticket to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time anyway. Stephens has translated the halting, interior voice of Mark Haddon’s novel (of the same name) into the emotional equivalent of a laser light show. And the Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s rendition is tightly directed, charmingly acted, and allergic to condescension.

That’s no small feat, given the material. The play follows Christopher Boone (Jamie Sanders), a 15-year-old savant on the autism spectrum, as he struggles to make sense of a neighborhood mystery. Someone’s aerated the neighbor’s dog, Wellington, with a pitchfork. And the dog’s owner, Mrs. Shears (Nicole Marie Green), suspects Christopher’s to blame.

What starts as a simple whodunit quickly turns into a messy tangle of deception and intrigue. Christopher’s father (Jason Chanos) wants him to drop the case for reasons he won’t explain. And as Christopher probes around his apartment building, he learns more about his mother (Stephanie Rae Roberts) than he was prepared to process.

Sanders is an ideal Christopher, capturing the character’s literal thinking patterns and social anxieties without making his speeches stilted or overly earnest. More crucially, his performance is mature. Curious Incident has the structure of a coming-of-age tale, and Sanders has a firm grasp on how the general challenges of adolescence might become particular for someone like Christopher.

Most of the Rep’s other actors play multiple small roles and are credited in the program as “Voice One” or “Voice Six.” Among the most memorable are Andy Perkins, who makes for a scarily convincing police officer, and Peggy Friesen, who plays a well-meaning busybody in a nearby apartment. But barring some minor dialect issues, the ensemble is strong across the board. And director Marissa Wolf knows how to balance creativity and cheese. Throughout, actors use their bodies to suggest Tetris blocks or ocean waves lapping at Christopher’s feet. Those moments work because they’re handled with sincerity and precision.

Arnulfo Maldonado’s curved, white set is sparse and sterile, landing somewhere between “neofuturist opera house” and “set for a pharmaceutical commercial.” It’s the sort of cold, low-anxiety environment in which you can imagine Christopher thriving — but it also allows lighting designer Grant Wilcoxen to ratchet up the stimulation to 11 with flashing lights and screaming colors. Wilcoxen and sound designer Brenan Aanes (this production’s MVP) create a completely immersive, expressionist vision of the London Underground in Act II, blowing up everyday sights and sounds to the grotesque proportions of parade balloons.

The lights in Act I don’t always hit the mark. Although Christopher is nearly always in focus, many of his scene partners are washed in saturated colors or only partly lit. It’s a smart, metaphorically resonant choice in theory: we get a literal interpretation of Christopher’s isolation, and we struggle to interpret people’s shadowy facial expressions just as he might. But it’s a frustrating choice in practice, undermining the efficacy of a few performers.

The script’s meta-theatrical elements are another challenge. Stephens handles most of the novel-to-play adaptation well, interspersing dramatic detective scenes with monologues from Christopher’s journal. The monologues work because they’re active — Christopher’s teacher, Siobhan (Bree Elrod), reads them aloud not for our benefit, but for his.

When she convinces him to turn his journal into a play, the logic breaks down. Fourth-wall-breaking moments come too late and too infrequent to feel natural or necessary. Still, this Curious Incident is worth seeing. Wolf and Sanders keep the action big-hearted and unprecious. And the Rep’s production is infused with an infectious optimism that makes even advanced geometry seem appealing.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Through February 18 at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Spencer Theatre (4949 Cherry); 816-235-2700; kcrep.org