Every Brilliant Thing – Soho Place

Every Brilliant Thing was created by Duncan Macmillan and Johnny Donahoe and was first performed at the Edinburgh fringe in 2014 and has since been performed by many artists in 80 countries around the world.  This is the first time that it has had a performance in London’s West End. 

It still has the feel of a fringe performance with a solo actor performing with no set dressing and largely without props and involving the audience in the performance.  It works well in the intimate theatre in the round auditorium at Sohoplace. Another feature of this production is that it is to be performed by five different actors on different nights during its run.  At Press Night it was the turn of Johnny Donahoe, who has performed it many times and his familiarity with the material was evident in his easy interaction with the audience.

Although the subject matter is depression and suicide it is by no means depressing and has a lot of humour, particularly as the audience members are encouraged to participate in the narrative. It tells the story of a young boy, aged seven, whose mother attempts suicide and his coping mechanism by writing a list of ” brilliant things”.  A habit which he continues on and off throughout his life.

If you attend this performance, you may well be asked to participate in some way as Donahoe and his assistant go round the audience, seeking out people to take on various roles and to read out some of the “brilliant things” in the list.  If you are so selected there is no need to fear, Donahoe is kind and considerate and does not embarrass audience members in any way and it was a feature of the Press Night performance how well the audience members responded to his invitations to take part.

The production lasts eighty-five minutes and includes quite a bit of music, illustrating songs which are important at key points in his journey through his emotional life. Although suicide is the underlying theme it was not dominant in the narrative, although at one time Donahoe read out five points of guidance from the Samaritans intended for the media in reporting suicides.  They are relevant to all of us.

It would be interesting to attend the production more than once to see it performed by other actors to see how their personalities and approach change the experience.

Every Brilliant Thing is being performed at Soho Place until 8th November 2025.  Tickets are available at https://sohoplace.org/  Refer to the website to see which actor is performing on which nights.

Reviewer: Paul Ackroyd

Reviewed: 21st August 2025

North West End UK Rating: