Every Brilliant Thing
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Jane Zussman
Oct 12, 2025, 6:57:26 PMOct 12
to Jane Zussman
Williamston’s latest offering doesn’t feel like a play. It’s more like a profound and funny discussion with our new best friend. Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe have created an unscriptlike script which is perhaps the funniest play you’ll ever see about depression and suicide. As director Tony Caselli writes, “It tackles a very difficult and important subject but does it in a way that reminds us that we’re not alone, and that joy can come from anywhere if you let it.”
Our Narrator, the talented and engaging Katherine Banks, may at first be mistaken for some friendly crew person, wandering around before the show, passing out cards and explaining that the audience member should shout out what’s on the cards when their number is called. These are the “brilliant things” such as No. 1, ice cream; No. 25, wearing a cape; No. 319, laughing so hard you shoot milk out of your nose… Mine was “Hammocks”; I think it was No. 201. She starts at age 7, devising this list to cheer her suicidal mother.
Our Narrator, the talented and engaging Katherine Banks, may at first be mistaken for some friendly crew person, wandering around before the show, passing out cards and explaining that the audience member should shout out what’s on the cards when their number is called. These are the “brilliant things” such as No. 1, ice cream; No. 25, wearing a cape; No. 319, laughing so hard you shoot milk out of your nose… Mine was “Hammocks”; I think it was No. 201. She starts at age 7, devising this list to cheer her suicidal mother.
The set is a warm collection of cozy rugs and furniture, glowed over by a forest of chandeliers and light fixtures, “brilliantly” illuminating the room and the audience. Chains of brilliant-thing cards decorate the walls. (Scenic design Kirk Domer) The audience encircles the stage in the round, making it easy for Katherine to draft a few audience members to take on roles as secondary characters such as School Counselor, Dad, Veterinarian, Boyfriend. Sometimes she feeds them lines, other times they just react. The process adds to the we’re-all-in-this-together vibe.
A notable quote from the play: “If you live a long life and get to the end of it without ever once having felt crushingly depressed, then you probably haven't been paying attention. Because in order to live in the present we have to be able to imagine a future that will be better than the past.”
So, imagine a future that includes seeing this show and entertaining yourself into a more positive mindset! Every Brilliant Thing continues through October 26. (Remember Thursday matinees as well as Saturdays and Sundays!)
Tickets at: http://www.williamstontheatre.org
Jane Zussman
G.L.U.T. List
(Greater Lansing Ubiquitous Theatre)
cell 517-930-0932
http://www.greaterlansingtheatre.net To review past emails as they were sent, click “About the G.L.U.T.” and choose “email list” from the drop-down menu — also check out the all-theatres calendar.
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