How do you turn a story about someone's mother committing suicide into one of the most uplifting things you will ever see? Well I have no idea but Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe solved that puzzle. The duo wrote one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.
Every Brilliant Things is a one person show that features a rotating cast playing the one role. The entire reason we went to New York was to see Daniel Radcliffe (yes harry Potter himself) star in this incredibly moving production. While Radcliffe plays the nameless narrator, he is not the only person in the play. As Radcliffe tells the story of the author's life, audience members perform minor roles throughout the story. Just seeing Radcliffe work the crowd, chat people up and choose people to participate before the show began was exhilarating.
In case you have been asleep since the final harry potter movie was released, Radcliffe has become an accomplished and very entertaining actor. He also has become just an all around good dude who does lots of charity work and speaks out for important causes. This fact made it so much fun to be 10 feet away form him as he chatted with members of the audience like they were old friends. While I waited to buy some terribly overpriced candy, I was able to eavesdrop on Radcliffe as he struck up conversations with members of the audience as he walked through all of the rows.
Once the audience selections were made and the show began, I was simply enthralled. As I mentioned earlier, the play is about the nameless narrator who learns of his mother's struggles with mental health as a child. For the next hour and ten minutes, Radcliffe takes the audience through a story of... not despair... but of beauty and hope. The remainder of the play centers on a list the narrator made to remind his mother of every brilliant thing ("brilliant" as in "wonderful"... it is a British play after all). And the entire audience gets to participate as well. Each audience member is assigned a brilliant thing in their playbill. I was lucky enough to yell out "Waking up late with someone you love!"
Although there are clearly sad, emotional parts that made me cry, there are also beautiful emotional parts... that made me cry. There were also many parts that made me laugh. But the thing I did most throughout the show was smile. If you have a soul, this play forces you to reflect on all the brilliant things in your own life. It reminds you how lucky you are to have the people who love you. It reminds you to hold onto the beautiful memories of people who you have lost. It reminds you to... be human.
I have never left an event more emotionally exhausted... and it was brilliant! I loved feeling like I had the most intense emotional workout I had ever had. There are not many forms of entertainment that can claim to have made my life better, but Every Brilliant Thing did just that. I appreciate my family more now. I appreciate my students more. I appreciate my friends more. I appreciate the world more. And right now, I think that sort of uplifting experience is something everyone needs.