Every Brilliant Thing debuted as a Ludlow Fringe Festival play in 2013, and a year later went to off-Broadway, where it was nominated for several awards. Authored by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe, this one-man show reveals how we are all touched in some way by suicide, depression, and coping with our frailties by sometimes focusing on the little things that make life worth living.
The Man, played by Marcus Truschinski, tells his story with the assistance of several people pulled from the audience (you can opt to sit “on” the stage and play a bigger part). Prior to the show, some audience members are given cue cards with numbers and a phrase — when The Man says your number, you read out (loudly) what is on the card. Other audience members get pulled up to act as The Man’s father, girlfriend/wife, counselor, and other characters. Since different people play these roles every night, every performance will be different. On our opening night show, the man who played the father was a live wire and hilarious, and the girlfriend/wife accidently tore part of her script up — Truschinski improvised beautifully around everything.
At seven, The Man’s mother attempted suicide. Confused and upset, the little boy looked for comfort from his distant father, but finding none, he decided to start a list of everything worth living for — every brilliant thing. Number one: ice cream. The list builds and the little boy shares it with his mother when she comes home from the hospital. She reads it and corrects his spelling, and he continues the list. Ten years later, his mother attempts suicide again, but this time The Man is older and angry and confused. The list is added to, shared, and returned. He meets a girl in college and shares the list, and she adds to it. They marry. The Man’s mother dies at her own hand and his life begins to fall apart. He throws the list away when he gets a divorce, but his wife saves it. He stumbles across it after his father dies, and he begins again to add to it, crossing the million mark.
Depression and mental health crises are explored with sensitivity and honesty. You will laugh and cry, and wonder if your own list of every brilliant thing would be enough to get you through a crippling depression. In the play one big truth is revealed: If you get to the end of your life without being crushingly depressed, you haven’t been paying attention. You are not alone. Don’t give up. There is an insert in the Playbill for Community Health Network, and the national suicide prevention Lifeline (1-800-723-TALK).
A minimalist staging in the round on the Upperstage gives the play added intimacy. This is a play that hits all the marks and succeeds in bringing us even closer to our shared experience.
Every Brilliant Thing is at the IRT through February 10; tickets are available online at irtlive.com or call 317-635-5252. Go. And make your list.
