Every Brilliant Thing

by Duncan Macmillan

& Jonny Donahoe

Starring

Chris Hayhurst

Directed by Traci Sprague

EVERY BRILLIANT THING was first produced by Paines Plough and Pentabus Theatre, on 28 June 2013 at Ludlow Fringe Festival. The play had its North American premiere at Barrow Street Theatre, New York, on 6 December 2014, where it was presented by Barrow Street Theatre and Jean Doumanian Productions.

Runtime approximately 80 minutes, no intermission

Performing at:

Glendale Community College May 23rd & 24th

Traci Sprague has directed and performed at Prospect Theater Project, Center Stage Conservatory, Stage 3, Merced Shakespearefest, Murphy’s Creek Theater, and Shakespeare on the Vine. She earned her BA in Drama from SCU Stanislaus. She studied crafting political theatre with San Francisco Mine Troupe, Viewpoints with Alexandra Billings, and Improv with Sills/Spolin Theaterworks. She has taught several workshops at Stanislaus County schools and has spoken at the SCOE Art Symposium, where she lead workshops on teaching creativity in the classroom. Traci Sprague served as the Artistic Director of Center Stage Conservatory located in downtown Modesto, CA where she explored LGBTQIA+, women’s voices/issues, and stories centered around mental health.

Chris Hayhurst

Actor

Chris Hayhurst has recently graduated with his MFA in Acting from Florida State University’s Asolo Conservatory. Chris has studied with Steppenwolf West, BlackBox Acting in Chicago, and has a BA in Theatre from California State University, Fullerton. Credits include Safe House (Urbanite Theatre Company), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Asolo Repertory Theater), The Glass Menagerie (Sierra Repertory Theatre), Mother of the Maid (Prospect Theater Project), The Aliens, A Lie of the Mind, Fool for Love, and True West (Center Stage Conservatory), and The Glass Menagerie as Jim at Stage 3 for which he won the prestigious Ellie award from SARTA for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama. Chris considers himself extraordinarily lucky to be a part of such an engaging piece of work with such a talented, collaborative team. He’d love to thank his family and friends for their unwavering support.

A one-man show that is really more of an “every-one” experience. Love, fear, joy, death… How do we make sense of the world when we suffer loss?

This show brings a heartwarming, gorgeous, and self-aware look at the very serious topic of suicide and how it has a rippling, long lasting impression on the people left in the wake. But don’t worry, it’s funny… This interactive play follows the life of a child who is affected by his mother’s attempts at ending her own life. It chronicles the journey that his family system makes as they navigate their pain, growth, and ultimately their attempt at rebirth. Every Brilliant Thing asks the questions, “How do we intelligently and sensitively talk about death by suicide?” and “How do we navigate the loss in the aftermath?”

As we travel with the storyteller from childhood through adolescence and into adult life, Every Brilliant Thing traces their relationship to their mother’s mental health. The Storyteller’s list created through this timeline recounts the hope that is found, lost and recovered throughout the journey:

“I realized how much the list had changed the way I see the world.” - Every Brilliant Thing

We are forever changed by what we experience. The joy, the pain, the comedy, the tragedy—all these things intermingle with each other, and we experience it through our laughter and tears. We carry these experiences with us, they are a part of us, they change us, and it is okay. 

Every Brilliant Thing recognizes that we are better together.

I will forever question how we tell stories in the theatre. I love exploring how the various elements relate to one another: from the lights, to the actor, to the sound, to the space, to the audience and so on. Each relationship often lends equally important to the story being told in a cohesive way. 

This one, though. This show is special and it’s different. This show is about people gathering in a room to have an experience, that for me, is at the heart of what theatre does best. This show is not a show. It’s a story that can’t be told without you and the people in the room with you today. The relationship that’s most important to this production is between the storyteller and you. It’s the relationship that was key to the creative process throughout our journey with the text. So, you can imagine how happy we are to finally be with you in the same room today.

Namaste,

Traci Sprague