Theatre Review by Cindi Sansone-Braff
Photo Credit: Steve Ayle
A Million Reasons to See Theatre Three’s Every Brilliant Thing
Every Brilliant Thing, written by Duncan MacMillan with Jonny Donahoe, shows the audience and the world a million reasons why life is always worth living. Take, for instance, these first five reasons written by the protagonist of this play, when he was a seven-year-old boy, to his hospitalized, depressed, and suicidal mother:
1. Ice cream 2.Water fights 3.Staying up past your bedtime and being allowed to watch TV 4. The color yellow 5. Things with stripes.
As this son gets older, his life-affirming list takes on a life of its own and, over time, becomes a whopping million reasons as to why we should always choose life. I would add to this million “Brilliant Things List” two more things: Jeffrey Sanzel’s award-worthy performance in Every Brilliant Thing at The Ronald F. Peierls Theatre on Theatre Three’s Second Stage; and Linda May’s precision perfect direction, which brought out all the humor, pathos, and positive messages this show is imbued with.
With audience members recruited to take on supporting roles, Every Brilliant Thing is a heartrending, laugh-out-loud funny show about some serious topics: depression, mental health, and suicide prevention. This dark comedy explores a son’s heartfelt attempts to help his mother combat her unrelenting depression by showing her all the beautiful things life has to offer. As the play progresses, we watch him struggle with his own anxiety and depression issues that plague him.
As a side note, the main character remains nameless throughout the play. Like the character Everyman in the 15th-century morality play, The Summoning of Everyman, the protagonist in this drama represents all humankind and the trials and tribulations individuals must endure during their soulful journey through life.
During the production, the audience is comfortably seated on little round tables strategically placed in front of the stage. Before the show began, the actor, Mr. Sanzel, handed out numbered pieces of paper to audience members that included a brilliant reason why life is worth living. I was given two pieces of paper with the words “hugging” and “alcohol” on them. Both times when my numbers were called, I was so deeply engrossed with Mr. Sanzel’s performance that my husband had to nudge me to remind me to perform my small part!
Mr. Sanzel, as the loving, troubled son, gave a riveting, honest, deeply moving performance that took the audience on a wild roller coaster ride of emotions ranging from sorrow to joy, from unbearable pain to healing, from tears to laughter. This is a challenging play for any actor to perform because of the serious nature of the subject matter. Also, it is essentially a one-person play, with an enormous amount of dialogue to memorize. Additionally, there are many improvisational moments between the actor and audience members; thus, no two performances will ever be the same, and an actor has to be quick-witted and flexible to adapt to these unpredictable onstage moments. Mr. Sanzel revealed himself to be a master storyteller and demonstrated his stellar acting and comedic skills throughout the show.
This minimalistic, one-act, dark comedy is theater at its best, proving that for a show to be a success, it doesn’t need a lot of glitz and glamour to entertain, educate, and enthrall an audience.
The monumental takeaway from this show is the truism that we always have to look toward tomorrow, that although tomorrow may not always be brilliant, it will be better! This play inspires us to talk about topics that make us feel uncomfortable, whether we share memories of those we have lost to suicide, our own experiences with bouts of depression, or struggles with our personal “to be or not to be” thoughts. I learned another valuable piece of information while talking to Mr. Sanzel after his electrifying performance: as of July 16, 2022, all across the United States, 988 has been designated as the new three-digit dialing code that will route callers to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. This is another brilliant thing to celebrate!
This play runs approximately one hour, has no intermission, and will be performed every Sunday at 3 pm through August 28, 2022, with fifty percent of the gross proceeds of this production benefiting the Response Crisis Center. For more information, please visit www.theatrethree.com or Call the Box office: 631-928-9100.
CONTENT WARNING: Although the play balances the struggles of life while celebrating all that is “truly brilliant” in living each day, Every Brilliant Thing contains descriptions of depression, self-harm, and suicide. It is recommended that only audience members 14 and older attend. If you or somebody you know is struggling, we are here to talk 24/7 at 631-751-7500 or the National Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
Cindi Sansone-Braff is an award-winning playwright. She has a B.F.A. in Theatre from UCONN and is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Long Island Authors Group. She is the author of Grant Me a Higher Love, Why Good People Can’t Leave Bad Relationships, and Confessions of a Reluctant Long Island Psychic. www.Grantmeahigherlove.com.