arts & entertainment

Riverside Theatre, led by Executive Producer Jon R. Moses and Artistic Director Allen D. Cornell, announces the next production of the 2024-2025 Waxlax Stage season, Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe. Every Brilliant Thing, part of the Bobbie Olsen Series on the Waxlax Stage, plays Riverside Theatre from March 25 – April 13, 2025

Every Brilliant Thing tells the story of a seven year old child (a boy in Riverside’s production), whose mom is in the hospital. Dad says she’s “done something stupid.” She finds it hard to be happy. So the child starts to make a list of everything that’s brilliant about the world to cheer mom up. As the child grows, the list gets longer and takes on a life of its own. Characters come into the child’s life and add to the list. Told by one performer as the narrator, the play uses audience members to bring the story to life. With great humor and unflinching honesty, Every Brilliant Thing deals with depression and the lengths we will go to for those we love.

Every Brilliant Thing started out as a monologue/short story written by Macmillan as a thank you for his friend Rosie Thomson. The 15-minute monologue, called Sleeve Notes, tells the story of a girl who starts making lists of everyday things with the hope they will cheer her mother up. As she grows older, so does the list, which she calls Every Brilliant Thing, and with it a new goal – identifying one million ‘things.’ The monologue was so well received that Thomson was asked to perform it at various theatres throughout the United Kingdom. Macmillan modified it and made it gender neutral – good for either men or women to perform.

With the help of George Perrin, Theatre Director for the United Kingdom’s National Theatre of New Plays, Macmillan worked on turning the monologue into a full-length play.

Enter Jonny Donahoe.

Donahoe, one half of the very popular comedy duo Jonny and the Baptists, quickly took to the piece. With his knack for improvisation, Donahoe took the play to the next level by incorporating the audience in the characters presented.

After some tryouts, they took it to the 2014 Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. The reviews were excellent and the show became one of the success stories of that year’s festival. Following the Fringe, Macmillan, Donahoe and the team were invited to perform for five weeks in New York City at the Barrow Street Theater. It ran for four months of sold out performances. Since then it has been performed in 63 countries with over 400 professional productions.

“Because the show is performed ‘in the round,’ you have this moving set around you of people reacting, engaging, laughing and crying,” said Donahoe. “I’d catch couples taking each other’s hands. That’s why we always insisted it be in the round; it isn’t just that you have to see the audience members play characters like ‘Dad’ and ‘Girlfriend,’ you have to be able to see everyone’s response to it. It’s where the form meets the content of the piece. Depression is something that affects all of us, whether directly or indirectly, and the only way to deal with it is to be open about it.”

Critics have hailed the play:

“Every Brilliant Thing finds a perfect balance between conveying the struggles of life, and celebrating all that is sweet in it.” —The Independent (UK).

“Every Brilliant Thing is sad, but it is also gloriously funny and exceptionally warm. It’s a show that spells out a little of what depression can do to people, but it also highlights the irrepressible resilience of the human spirit and the capacity to find delight in the everyday.” —Time Out London.

Every Brilliant Thing is directed and scenically designed by Allen D. Cornell and stars Jimmy Ray Bennett.

The production team includes: Anna Hillbery (Costume Design), Genny Wynn (Lighting Design), Craig Beyrooti (Sound Design), Audrey M. Brown (Production Stage Manager) and Dane Urban  (Assistant Stage Manager).

Every Brilliant Thing performs March 25 – April 13, 2025 on the Waxlax Stage at Riverside Theatre. Tickets are $65. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Box Office at 772-231-6990 or online at http://www.riversidetheatre.com.

CONTENT WARNING: Every Brilliant Thing contains descriptions of depression, self-harm, and suicide.

Performances are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 7:30pm; Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm; with matinees on Wednesdays, select Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm. 

MEET JIMMY RAY BENNETT

Was last at Riverside in 2007 after performing F​ully Committed in the Waxlax and the celebration that opened the renovations to the Stark. Co-creator of the off-Broadway improvised “cult hit” The Nuclear Family, Nathan Brooks in ​”Hand of God” for Amazon Prime and the lovable Floyd in Grand Theft Auto 5. Most recently seen in the Regional Premier of Waitress (Ogunquit Playhouse), Transparent (The Mark Taper Forum) and Trading Places (The Alliance). Past theatres include The Arena, McCarter, LaJolla Playhouse, Barrow Street, NYTW, The Duke, City Center, MSG and the Kennedy Center. TV: ​”Billions,​” ​”Hot In Cleveland,​” ​”AJ And The Queen,​” ​”The Blacklist,​” ​”The Daily Show,​” ​”Better Nate Than Ever​” and ​”DL Hughley’s Endangered Species List​” (Peabody Award).