Every Brilliant Thing – 18 March 2026

The concept of Every Brilliant Thing is simple, yet profoundly touching: starting at age 7, a child begins a list (which will become lifelong) of things that make life worth living after his mother attempts to take her own life. As he grows older, his relationship to the world and his place in it changes. In his own pockets of depression, the protagonist abandons and returns to his commitment to listing the infinite number of brilliant things in the world. The show incorporates cards given to the audience to read brilliant things from all over the theater, and at times audience members are pulled on stage to play various roles opposite performer Daniel Radcliffe.

Though technically speaking a solo show, Radcliffe never seems fully alone on stage—not just because there are audience members seated on stage but also because the design elements of the show stay completely with him. The house lights (Jack Knowles) don’t ever fully go out, giving the feeling that at any moment Radcliffe could shout a number and somewhere in the theater there will be another brilliant thing from a new voice. These voices were amplified with area mics (Tom Gibbons) set up in the audience—truly a challenge for the sound team, who get helpful gestures from Radcliffe indicating where in the theater he’s expecting to hear the call out. Lighting also supported Radcliffe almost like a character through funny spotlight searches for participants, a great moment with a disco ball, and a dimming of intensity when talking about the more serious topics.

Radcliffe’s comedic competence and ability to architect improvisational moments with the audience was truly remarkable. The onstage chemistry felt very real, but part of the brilliance was the way he made participation accessible (and not optional). Particularly pulling from audience members who were seated on stage, Radcliffe built a family around him such that as he moved through the story, it felt like he was sharing the space with more and more people—his dad, his school counselor, his partner, etc. Radcliffe took a script and built a community that genuinely felt loving and caring.

The content of this show cannot be ignored. Like life, it has moments of joyous celebration and moments of deep, unshakable darkness. The show includes thing number 988—all of the instructions on how to talk about suicide responsibly based on scientific studies to avoid the inevitable peaks in people thinking about taking their own life that come from talking about people who choose to do so. The wondrous specificity of the brilliant things, the structure of the script, the palpable energy of the room, and the importance of the message make Every Brilliant Thing a visionary revolution. Its true power is not in its positivity, but in its fearless confrontation of how pain becomes more survivable when we open our lives to input from others. Leaving the theater, this audience feels supported and held, enjoying the brilliant thing that is this performance and its embodiment of what it means to use art to change the world.

I attended this performance on a press pass from Vivacity Media Group.