Review: Lakeside Community Theatre's one weekend show, EVERY BRILLIANT THING is an emotionally moving must-see

Every Brilliant Thing 

By Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe

Directed by Chris Berthelot

Presented by Lakeside Community Theatre

Audience Rating: PG-13 (adult themes, mental illness, suicide, death)
Running Time: 50 minutes with no intermission
Accessible Seating: Available
Hearing Devices: Not Available
Sensory-friendly Showing: Not Available
ASL Showing: Not Available
Production Sound/Lighting Level: Comfortable

Noises and Visuals to Prepare For: Talk of mental illness, death, and suicide

Reviewed by Eddy Herring

Why? This is a question that we ask ourselves and others quite often, when we don’t understand something that has been said, when we find ourselves in a difficult situation, when the truth is too unthinkable to comprehend. Oftentimes, the simple answer just leads to more questions. Sometimes, there simply is no answer. Every Brilliant Thing is an autobiographical reflection of a young man’s experience, beginning at age 7, living in the shadows of a mother’s depression and a father that will not talk about it. Caught in the middle is the child, who doesn’t understand what is wrong or why mommy feels this way. So, at the advice of a counselor, he starts a list for his mother of things that are brilliant and beautiful in the world…things to cheer her up and make her better. As time passes, and the mother’s multiple unsuccessful attempts to end her pain, the list continues to grow longer, but to no avail.

Seems a little heavy, right? Without giving away too much of this theatrical experience, there are plenty of happy and funny moments. As the narrator of this one-man show, Joel Hashop masterfully navigates the deep sentiments of this story in a very heartfelt and unique way. There’s audience participation and lots of laughter to keep things light. But at its heart, this is a story told from experience, authenticity, and emotion that pulls you in from the very first words spoken. Hashop embraces the realism of this piece so believably, it felt like he was telling us his own personal story. The perspective and all the emotion that comes with it is so real you forget you are watching a scripted show. Hashop is gifted with the ability to draw us in not only with the scripted words, but with his eyes, his body carriage, the flip of his hair. He feels this role so deeply and realistically that you can’t look away. You feel every word.

Director Chris Berthelot created a very simple setting with appropriate lighting and sound. He focused his attention on the character himself, and by casting an incredibly gifted actor like Hashop, together they created a theatre experience that is poignant and sadly relatable to many. The audience was completely engaged and we were all deeply moved by this performance. Bravo to you both for taking this on and presenting it in the most heartfelt way.

I left LCT feeling as though I had seen something really, really special. Although the subject matter sounds tough, it is so beautifully presented. While not the complete focus of the script, mental illness and suicide are the predominant themes in this production. We read in the program that all proceeds from the production will benefit National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) North Texas.

Please, if you know someone with mental illness, there are resources available to help. Every Brilliant Thing is a one-weekend-only show, running November 14-16. If you are fortunate enough to catch one of these performances, I highly recommend you do. Tickets are available at the door or at
buy.ticketstothecity.com

Go see this magnificent show!

Eddy