EVERY BRILLIANT THING by Keith Richardson

A CENTRAL THEME of suicide does not suggest a fun night out at the theatre. But initial perceptions can be dangerously misleading.

Every Brilliant Thing, with central character and narrator Andy Turner, the epitome of enthusiasm, is engaging, thought-provoking and, yes, also vastly entertaining. Bespectacled Turner, in a T-shirt and pumps (plimsolls in a previous life), relates the story of a boy, and later an adult, coming to terms with his mother’s attempts to take her own life.

Eventually she does kill herself, and as the narrative unfolds, it reveals how the boy and the man react to events and the effect it has on his own life and relationships. The drama deals with issues of mental health, stability, and coping with life and everything that it is likely to throw at you during a ‘normal’ (is there such a thing?) lifetime.

As Andy, the narrator, says at one point (apologies for any minor misplacement of his actual words): “If you get through this life without being at some stage crushingly depressed, then you haven’t been paying attention.”

It is powerful material.

And the power lines and the telling contributions are all part of a much larger canvas of this ‘play’ (event/drama/revelation/production, call it what you will) in which Andy the narrator involves the audience by asking them to recite a series of numbered questions on slips of coloured note paper that the boy/man compiles over the years to speak of everything in life that is brilliant; hence, clearly, the title Every Brilliant Thing.

The extensive list, into the thousands by the end, is, quite simply, his way of coping with life and the trauma and aftereffects of his mum’s depression, suicide attempts and, eventually, suicide.

The list is a look on the bright side, a metaphor for focussing on life’s positives as a means of coping with the negatives. When the man rediscovers the list later in the piece, it becomes apparent that the ‘brilliant things’ were written not just on notepaper or in files but also on objects.

For example, one of the two items I read out during the production was ‘No 7 – Falling Over’ and was written on the side of a pair of ice skates. The other, for the record, was: ‘No 517 – Knowing someone well enough to get them to check your teeth for broccoli.’

A few, carefully chosen (by Andy) members of the audience had greater roles to play in the production; that of a teacher (you were brilliant Mrs Patterson during the show I saw on Tuesday night, August 18), a partner, a vet, a dad.

Please do not gain the impression that this production is ‘heavy’.

Yes, it is meaningful and deeply thoughtful, by its very nature of course, but it is also massively entertaining, and the narrator deals with the central theme with a light rather than a heavy touch.

Nor should you be deterred by the prospect of audience participation. Everyone there was delighted to be involved and felt, if this is the right term, totally at home. Andy has a way of making everyone feel comfortable. Trust him.

On the lighter note, I loved the comic touches such as Mrs Patterson’s sock puppet, ‘Lamb Chop’, and the pet dog ‘Sherlock Bones.’ And there was a great deal more to enjoy in the cut and thrust of the dialogue and the props.

The Theatre by the Lake (or TBTL as it is now endearingly known) is setting a very high bar for its productions this year. And the Everest-like standard of the main house is now also to be seen in the studio where Every Brilliant Thing is staged.

It would be remiss of me not to end this review (other reviews are available) on a highly profound and meaningful note which, please beware, may change lives forever, if not that of the planet and our understanding (or lack of it) of the universe: You still have broccoli on your teeth.

FOOTNOTES: 

Every Brilliant Thing written by Duncan Macmillan and directed by Liz Stevenson is staged in the studio at TBTL until Saturday, September 5. Support literature and information on mental health issues are available at the theatre.

Community groups, organisations, and charities have supported and contributed to Every Brilliant Thing. These include Every Life Matters, PAPYRUS and Andy’s Man Club.