Performances play until 8 November 2025.
First presented by Paines Plough at Roundabout at Summerhall in 2014, Every Brilliant Thing has bee performed in over 80 countries worldwide, been adapted into a highly successful HBO film and now debuts in the West End @sohoplace. See photos here!
The season opens with Lenny Henry (August in England, Bush Theatre; Othello, Northern Broadsides) followed in date order by Jonny Donahoe (co-creator and original performer Every Brilliant Thing), Ambika Mod (One Day, Netflix; This is Going to Hurt, BBC), Sue Perkins (The Great British Bake Off, BBC; Just a Minute, BBC Radio 4) and concluding the season, Minnie Driver (Good Will Hunting; The Riches).
You’re seven years old. Mum’s in hospital. Dad says she’s ‘done something stupid’. She finds it hard to be happy. You start a list of everything that’s brilliant about the world. Everything worth living for. You leave it on her pillow. You know she’s read it because she’s corrected your spelling.
A child attempts to ease their mother's depression by creating a list of all the best things in the world. Through adulthood, as the list grows, they learn the deep significance it has on their own life. Every Brilliant Thing is a comedy about the lengths we will go for those we love.
Photo credit: Helen Murray