Some Brilliant things about Every Brilliant Thing
“The funniest show about depression you’ve ever seen” reads a rather paradoxical description for the play Every Brilliant Thing being shown in Dun Laoighaire’s Pavilion Theatre until the 16th of July. Having now been to see the play, I can confirm that this description is indeed wonderfully accurate. I should add, however, that this is not to say that the obviously very serious issue of clinical depression is not dealt with in a sensitive and thoughtful way throughout the performance—it is. One man (James Rowland) shares with the audience and invites them into a searingly honest tale of a young boy whose mother suffers from depression. As is the ability of young children, the boy’s outlook of this situation is hopeful and admirable. He sets about composing a list of ‘Every Brilliant Thing’ in the world, a list to help his mother out of a hole. The list grows and grows; throughout childhood, adolescence and finally the rocky pits of adulthood. The audience become complicit in the journey and the list as certain members evolve from mere passive spectators to significant figures in the story: a vet, a teacher with a sock dog, a grieving father, a girlfriend. This serves as an excellent comedic device as well as reminding the audience that this story, though it may sound specific, can apply to anyone. The message is strengthened by the presence of sticky notes and a board outside, inviting members of the public to write their own ‘Brilliant things’ and to stick them up (“When Starbucks manage to spell your name right!”).
As the boy grows to a man, the exercise he once saw as naïve slowly begins to take on more value: it becomes a lifeline and a reminder to a time when one managed to hope, to recognise the simple brilliance of the small things: “things with stripes”, “ice- creams” or, my personal favourite, “not caring about spending too much on holiday because the currency looks like monopoly money”. The play served both as an admonition to appreciate the small things and to look at the bright side, as well as a lesson in love and compassion—to not push people away.
The buzz of conversation after the plays close made it starkly apparent just how affecting it had been: audience members approaching those that they had never spoken to before in order to praise the show or, in some cases, to congratulate the other on their role play skills. What better way to combat mental health than by creating a space for dialogue?! I would like to add my own Brilliant Thing to the list, “theatre so effective that makes it a crime not to go and see it”.
Written by Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe, directed by George Perrin, performed by James Rowland and produced by Paines Plough and Pentabus theatre companies; this is an uncannily simple production that can be enjoyed by all, particularly if you might sometimes forget just where exactly the wonderful things might lie in your life.
