Every Brilliant Thing tells the story of a youngster who must come to terms with a bipolar parent who first attempts suicide when the child is seven. While the boy's father retreats from this painful and confusing situation into a world of silence and music, the child responds by starting to list all the things that are good about life. It is an amusing and touching strategy which the boy continues as he grows older. This is a story about vulnerability and coping with pain, and Lenny Henry does a splendid job of conveying the emotions of the youngster growing up in a dysfunctional home. Indeed, when he is portraying the child, adolescent, and adult affected by this situation the characterisation is completely credible. The format of this drama, however, is interactive and the audience is called upon to participate by playing various roles in the boy's story. It is an experience which brings audience members into the child's world and, for all except the most extroverted, allows them to share the boy's sense of vulnerability. It is at these points, when Henry relinquishes the actor's protection of the fourth wall, that the performance falters. Although he occasionally manages to share the audience's sense of exposure, he tends to revert to the defence of the stand-up comedian covering his own exposure with assertion. He takes charge of the situation and starts to direct the show. He critiques audience members for delivering their lines too slowly. He comments on their decision to wear a Covid mask, and he remarks on their reluctance to participate. When Henry steps out of character he falls back on being a comic, assuming a directorial stance which ultimately robs his performance of some of its power to induce the empathy which is the point of the whole exercise. That being said, Henry does draw some good performances from his audience and puts in a strong showing himself. During its run Every Brilliant Thing will have five different actors playing the central role. It is certainly tempting to go back in order to see how Jonny Donahoe, Ambika Mod, Sue Perkins, and Minnie Driver interpret this moving role and handle the complex interaction that is set up by the interactive experience.
Rated: ★★★
Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Helen Murray
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