Art, Activism, Awareness and ‘Every Brilliant Thing’

Technically, the British play Every Brilliant Thing is a one-man show, an acclaimed tour de force achievement by British comedian Jonny Donahoe, who inspires tears and laughter over the course of 75 minutes of inventive theater. But when the play lands in Santa Barbara’s Center Stage Theater (Sept. 23-25), audiences will quickly learn that the literal one-man show description is at least marginally incomplete.

For one, audience participation reaches new heights of interactivity in the clever structural design of the play. More tellingly — and yet more abstractly — the play’s unseen character is a huge, quietly looming specter: a suicidal mother character and, by extension, the vast, broadly relevant topic of mental illness and its effect on both victims and family members. Those entities loom in the wings. And yet, somehow, the play works a delicate balancing act of lightness and compassion.

Heralded as a sensation in London, off-Broadway, and streaming via a 2018 HBO special, the play, written by Duncan Macmillan with Donahoe, makes its Santa Barbara premiere with a fitting benefactor, as a fundraiser for New Beginnings Counseling Center.