Made by TBTL Theatre by the Lake presents

Every Brilliant Thing

by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe Wednesday 12 August - Saturday 5 September | 7.30pm

★★★★  “the most brilliant thing about life is that it is a shared experience”  Clare Brennan, The Guardian

You’re seven years old. Mum’s in hospital. She finds it hard to be happy.

So you start to make a list of everything that’s brilliant about the world. Everything worth living for.

Ice cream
Water fights
Staying up past your bedtime and being allowed to watch TV

And as you grow, so does the list…

Every Brilliant Thing is an honest, uplifting and very funny play about mental health, resilience and the lengths we’ll go to for those we love. Told by a single performer with help from the audience, it creates a unique, shared theatrical experience.

Following a successful run and tour in 2023, Every Brilliant Thing returns to our studio before visiting community spaces across Cumbria.

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Looking for more live theatre in Keswick? Explore our full programme of upcoming productions, seasonal shows and visiting performances at Theatre by the Lake. From classic drama and contemporary storytelling to family favourites and new writing, there’s always something to discover.

Planning a visit to the Lake District? Combine your theatre trip with everything Keswick has to offer, including walks, cafés, lakeside views and cultural events throughout the year.

Discover more theatre at Theatre by the Lake in Keswick, including Nell Gwynn, Calendar Girls, and A Christmas Carol.

TOURING AROUND CUMBRIA FROM 29 SEPTEMBER to 4 OCTOBER 2026 – *watch this space*

Book now

Overview: Theatre by the Lake (Studio) set in the round; From £12 with unreserved seating; 60min (no interval); Age 14+

Access: Wheelchair & other access booking available via various venues, please contact them directly.

Content advice

Every Brilliant Thing is about resilience and hope and addresses aspects of mental health. It deals specifically with depression, self-harm and suicide. Read a synopsis HERE.

Post Show Discussions

We do post-show discussions for every Theatre by the Lake production. A post-show discussion is when the cast and some of the creative team come out on stage after the show and answer any questions you have! It’s your chance to ask any burning questions you have about theatre, being an actor, or being involved in a show.

Every Brilliant Thing Post Show Discussions (after the 7.30pm performances)
Friday 14 | Saturday 15 | Wednesday 19 | Tuesday 25 August
Friday 4 Septemeber

Access: RP
Relaxed Performance Thu 27 August; CP
Captioned Performance Tue 1 September; BSL
British Sign Language Tue 1 September; AD
Audio Described Thu 3 September

the most brilliant thing about life is that it is a shared experience
The Guardian

A brilliant life-affirming celebration of joy
Northern Arts Review

If ever theatre had a purpose, this week in Keswick was a brilliant example
StageyLady

this is a play filled with the joy and laughter of life
Cumbria24

All reviews are from the 2023 staging at TBTL

Cast

Andrew Turner

Theatre credits include Brassed Off (Theatre by the Lake), Every Brilliant Thing (Theatre By The Lake), I Think We Are Alone (Frantic Assembly), Connection (Harrogate), Dancehall (Cast Doncaster), Cat in the Rain, Dumb Waiter (Chief Theatre Company), Twelfth Night (Northampton Royal), The White Album, Sam's Game (Nottingham Playhouse), Fields of Gold (Stephen Joseph Theatre), The Dark (Donmar), Bintou (Arcola).

Television credits include Ladhood (BBC), Father Brown (BBC), Mount Pleasant (Sky), The Musketeers (BBC), Coronation Street (ITV), Doctors (BBC), Bad Debt (Peter Bullock Productions), Holby City (BBC), Blue Murder (Granada), Casualty (BBC), Snuff Box (BBC), The Somme (Darlow Smithson), Waking the Dead (BBC), Dalziel and Pascoe (BBC).

Film credits include Fantastic Beasts the Crimes of Grindelwald (Warner Bros), Is Anybody There? (BBC Films)

Creatives

Director - Liz Stevenson

Liz Stevenson is Artistic Director and joint CEO of Theatre by the Lake. Liz was formerly the co-founder and Artistic Director of Junction 8 Theatre, making new productions with for and about the community in her hometown of Chorley, Lancashire. In 2018 she was the Associate Director on the UK and Ireland tour of the National Theatre’s production of Macbeth. In 2015 she won the JMK Young Director Award and directed Barbarians at the Young Vic. Barbarians was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre.

Other work as a director includes: The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Theatre by the Lake), Tom’s Midnight Garden (Theatre by the Lake), Home I’m Darling (Theatre by the Lake, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Bolton Octagon), A Christmas Carol (Theatr Clwyd); Lancastrians (Lancashire tour, Junction 8 Theatre); The Secret Garden (York Theatre Royal, Theatre by the Lake); Under the Market Roof (Chorley Market, Junction 8 Theatre); Handbagged (Theatre by the Lake); How My Light is Spent (Royal Exchange Theatre, Sherman Theatre, Theatre by the Lake); Macbeth (Dukes Theatre, Lancaster); Barbarians (Young Vic).

Designer - Alex Berry

Composer / Sound Designer - Mark Melville

Mark Melville is a composer and sound designer for theatre and film and studied at Leeds Conservatoire. His music and sound design work has been presented across the UK and internationally.

Recent projects include: Nest (M6 Theatre); Love the Sinner (Vanishing Point); They Don’t Pay? We Won’t Pay! (Mercury Theatre); Kin (Gecko/National Theatre); Snow Queen (Storyhouse); Flight (Vox Motus/The Bridge Theatre/Barbican); The Metamorphosis (Vanishing Point/Emilia Romagna Teatro, Italy); A Little Space (Gecko/Mind The Gap); Exodus, The Panopticon (National Theatre of Scotland); The Greatest Play in the History of the World... (Tara Finney Productions/Royal Exchange/West End/UK Tour); Frankenstein, Wit, B!rth (Royal Exchange); Human Animals, Violence and Son, God Bless the Child (Royal Court); 1984 (Emilia Romagna Teatro); Tomorrow (Vanishing Point/Cena Contemporânea Festival, Brazil/Brighton Festival/Tramway); Where Do We Belong?, Where Do We Stand? (Northern Stage); Little Gift (M6 Theatre/ AndyManley); Road (Leeds Playhouse); Charlie

Lighting Designer - Matt Leventhall

Matt is a lighting designer and educator who has collaborated UK-wide and internationally for the past 18 years. Matt is the Head of Lighting at RADA in London and recently delivered a lighting course at the National School of Drama, New Delhi, India.

Previous work for Theatre by The Lake: Tom’s Midnight Garden, The Secret Garden
www.mllx.co.uk

Production Manager - Phil Geller

Costume Supervisor - Gemma Reeve

Gemma has a Degree in Costume Interpretation from Wimbledon School of Art and has worked for the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet in various roles within the costume department. Assistant Costume Supervisor for Royal Opera's Carmen, Otello and Faust . Costume Supervisor, The Climbers (TBTL), The Beauty Queen of Leenane (TBTL).

Casting Director - Sarah Hughes

Company Stage Manager - Sophie Acreman

Deputy Stage Manager - Sara Cowman

Community Engagement Coordinator - Anne Timpson

Gallery

Andy Turner in Every Brilliant Thing at Theatre by the Lake. Photo Credit: Chris Payne

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What’s on

In Cumbria, there is a 50% higher suicide rate than the national average (Office of National Statistics). For this production Theatre by the Lake is being supported by Cumbrian suicide prevention and suicide bereavement support charity Every Life Matters, national suicide prevention charity for young people PAPYRUS, and men’s suicide prevention charity Andy’s Man Club.

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