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Playwright Duncan Macmillan is the king of the slow burner: his 2011 fringe play Lungs debuted in 2011 in semi-obscurity until eight years later it was revived in a massive Old Vic production starring Matt Smith and Clare Foy.
Now his 2014 play Every Brilliant Thing goes a few years better – finally making its debut in the West End this summer.
The play is a deeply touching, often very funny monologue about an unnamed narrator who has – since childhood – obsessively kept a list of every single thing they think is good about the world (no matter how trivial), initially as a way of cheering their mum up, but later themself. It’s an intimate show about living with depression that has been translated into dozens of languages but has rarely been seen in big theatres.
But next month Every Brilliant Thing finally makes the leap to the West End’s newest and most intimate theatre @sohoplace. You’ll be able to see it performed by Jonny Donahoe, who co-created it and has done most previous UK performances. But he’s getting a little celebrity help. Quite a lot, in fact: there will be five performers taking on the the show this time.
In August Donahoe and Lenny Henry will be splitting the role (to be clear there will be a single performer per show, with Henry taking on the lion’s share); during September it’ll be Sue Perkins and rising star Ambika Mod; and for just added October dates Henry and Donahoe will return for a bit before Hollywood actor Minnie Driver takes over for the end of the run.
An intimate play that relies heavily on the audience and the personality of the performer, the revival promises to be quite the treat, and a real pick me up for the London’s traditionally sleepy August theatre scene.
Every Brilliant Thing is at @sohoplace, Aug 1-Nov 8. Buy tickets here.