Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan

Originally conceived as a one-person show in collaboration with Jonny Donahoe, and performed as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the C-N production stars senior Katherine Helveston. The one-woman tour de force explores depression with sensitivity and humor and the shadow it casts over the lives of a family. This is a story that begins at the end, some years after the death of the narrator’s mother. In an effort to make sense of her mother’s initial suicide attempt, the narrator begins a list of every brilliant thing in the world, every reason for living. What begins as a child’s attempt to make sense of adult unhappiness—1. Ice cream. 2. Kung Fu movies. 3. Burning things. 4. Laughing so hard you shoot milk out your nose. 5. Construction cranes. 6. Me.—becomes a lifelong pursuit of understanding and healing as the list takes on a life of its own. Simultaneously heart-wrenching and hilarious, Every Brilliant Thing finds a perfect balance between conveying the struggles of life and celebrating all that is sweet in it. It is a snapshot of what depression can do to people while highlighting the resiliency of the human spirit and the need to find delight in the everyday.

Friday, December 6, 2024
at 7:30 PM EST
$5.00 - $10.00

Event Policy: This event has a no refund policy.

Originally conceived as a one-person show in collaboration with Jonny Donahoe, and performed as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the C-N production stars senior Katherine Helveston. The one-woman tour de force explores depression with sensitivity and humor and the shadow it casts over the lives of a family. This is a story that begins at the end, some years after the death of the narrator’s mother. In an effort to make sense of her mother’s initial suicide attempt, the narrator begins a list of every brilliant thing in the world, every reason for living. What begins as a child’s attempt to make sense of adult unhappiness—1. Ice cream. 2. Kung Fu movies. 3. Burning things. 4. Laughing so hard you shoot milk out your nose. 5. Construction cranes. 6. Me.—becomes a lifelong pursuit of understanding and healing as the list takes on a life of its own. Simultaneously heart-wrenching and hilarious, Every Brilliant Thing finds a perfect balance between conveying the struggles of life and celebrating all that is sweet in it. It is a snapshot of what depression can do to people while highlighting the resiliency of the human spirit and the need to find delight in the everyday.

Item Price Quantity

Adults

sales end 12/06 8:50PM EST

$10.00

Seniors 60+

sales end 12/06 8:50PM EST

$8.00

Students/C-N Faculty and Staff

sales end 12/06 8:50PM EST

$5.00