--- description: Audiences have fallen in love with the main character's rat in the show. title: Rat Gets Big Role in 'Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [broadway](/tag/broadway/) ## broadway Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Rat Gets Starring Role in Broadway Play  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 13, 2014 1:47 PM CUT  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 13, 2014 1:47 PM CUT Audiences have fallen in love with a new actor on Broadway. She’s a rat named Toby, and her role in [_The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%5FCurious%5FIncident%5Fof%5Fthe%5FDog%5Fin%5Fthe%5FNight-Time "undefined") has just been expanded. Toby is the rat kept by the teenager with autism at the center of the show, and while [the New York Times reports](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/nyregion/white-rat-in-the-curious-incident-is-unexpected-broadway-hit.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&%5Fr=0 "undefined") that some cast members were initially skeptical about performing with a live rat, audiences have responded so positively to Toby that the directors decided to give her a little more freedom onstage. (it is a female rat playing a male character). Now, Toby, who is played by a female rat, gets to [leave her carrier](http://www.cbc.ca/asithappens/features/2014/11/12/broadway-rat/ "undefined") at one point during the performance. “She’s a special rat,” Benjamin Klein, the associate director of the play, [told the New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/nyregion/white-rat-in-the-curious-incident-is-unexpected-broadway-hit.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&%5Fr=0 "undefined"). _The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time_ opened in October. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3583321/rat-curious-incident-dog-night-time/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3583321/rat-curious-incident-dog-night-time/"},"headline":"Rat Gets Starring Role in Broadway Play","datePublished":"2014-11-13T13:47:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:24:57.038Z","description":"Toby was almost snake-food. Now she's a Broadway star","url":"https://time.com/3583321/rat-curious-incident-dog-night-time/","keywords":["broadway","animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/broadway/","name":"broadway"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3583321/rat-curious-incident-dog-night-time/","name":"Rat Gets Starring Role in Broadway Play"}}]}] ```