Written by Duncan Macmillan
Directed by Will Brooks and Carson Abt
Produced by Katherine Li and Tara Shilkret
You’re six years old. Mum’s in hospital. Dad says she’s “done something stupid.” She finds it hard to be happy. So you start to make a list of everything that’s brilliant about the world. Everything that’s worth living for. 1. Ice cream. 2. Kung Fu movies. 3. Burning things. 4. Laughing so hard you shoot milk out your nose. 5. Construction cranes. 6. Me. You leave it on her pillow. You know she’s read it because she’s corrected your spelling. Soon, the list will take on a life of its own.
Everything Brilliant Thing is a play about depression and the lengths we will go to for those we love. It is told from the perspective of an adult recounting their experiences as a young child who had to confront their mother's depression. Their instinct is to try and cure their mother. With this in mind, they start curating a list of all the amazing things that the universe has to offer.
After the Saturday show, we will be hosting a "Talk Back" with Penn Bens, Penn Reflect, and Penn Rappline to discuss the themes of the show and debrief!