E V E R Y B R I L L I A N T T H I N G
I saw a wonderful play last night. Well, I'd seen it twice before, I must admit, but it never fails to stop me, to make me think a little and I'm always moved by the story, no matter how well I know it. It's a ritual really. I tend to be rather obsessive about things – music, people, and apparently plays. I go back chasing the feeling I first had with it and even though that particular feeling can never return, there's always something new and interesting. Always a reminder.
The play is a one-man show, an adaptation after the book 'Every Brilliant Thing' by Duncan Macmillan.
I started the list after the first attempt.
That's how it starts. One man on a chair and a spotlight on him. It's awfully simple. And awfully sad because as the story unfolds, we hear this man tell us how his mother tried to kill herself when he was a little boy and how he, at seven years old, started writing down a list of all the things worth living for.
Ice-cream.
That's the first one, ice-cream. Seems simple, doesn't it? Well, it is. There are so many things worth living for, so many things that make life great and worthwhile.
As the show progresses, the character grows older, naturally. At some point, he leaves behind the list and forgets about it.
Until the second attempt, when the boy is seventeen. And something that always strikes me is that when he finds the list (by accident, while he cleans his room, trying to take his mind off things), he says this :
I realized that I'd taken it much better as a seven year old. As a teenager, I was far less resilient.
And to me, that one line just makes time stop. For a second. Because it reminds me that is what it's all about, not what happens to you or around you, but how you face things, how resilient you manage to be, how many reasons you see to live. Naturally, he continues the list and then his life moves on, he goes to college, falls in love with a girl who adds to his list.
As the boy becomes a man, the reasons become more complex, more grown-up. Vinyl records. Christopher Walken's voice. Mick Jagger. Coming home. Marlon Brando. Wanting to hold hands with someone.
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Throughout the show, his life is haunted by his mother's suicide attempts, prompting his own downward spiral into depression. It's devastating, isn't it? That it doesn't really matter if you were once a child who understood that ice-cream was something worth living for. Anyone can lose hope, anyone can feel senseless and forget ice cream. It walks the fine line between happiness and sadness, between hope and desperation, like most people do. And that's why it's so powerful. It's why I go see it as often as I can. It's not for the plot, I've learned it by now. It might be for the acting too, I'll admit that. But most of all it's because it speaks to you, at whatever point you are in your life. The first time I saw it, I'd broken up with someone and I was quite sad. Not suicidal, by no means that, but still, I remember it made me cry because it showed me “every brilliant thing” in life. Now, I'm at a very different moment in life, but it connected so deeply to something within me, still. That's what art is supposed to do, right? To speak to everyone, old and young, happy or sad, lost or found.
Another thing I really like about this show is that when you walk into the room, you're given a card, like these.
And on each card, there is a reason. His list eventually reaches a million, and at various points in the show he calls out a number.
30 – Sleeping in bed sideways
999 – Sunlight
711 – Dying your hair
282 – Making a compliment
And you're supposed to shout it out to him. It's an excellent way to connect with the audience, to make sure they hear the reasons, you know?
But perhaps the greatest thing about the play is that it sends out a message and because the message is spoken by someone who understands, someone who shows you their naked soul and lets you see into his darkness and hurt, the message is heard. Perhaps you wouldn't hear it if the character was upbeat all the time, because you wouldn't relate to him. That's the things, this guy understands, he's been there. And there's this point in the show, my favorite one, where he's sitting so calmly and he says
For anyone who's contemplating suicide, anyone who's ever thought of taking their own life, I'd say one thing – don't do it.
And it's so simple. There's this long pause and he says it with such sadness in his voice, such understanding. No, I was wrong, it seems like a simple message, it seems like a cliché, a banal thing to say. But it's not.
Don't do it.
Thank you for reading,
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I haven't been to the theatre for a long time. i really wanted to see something on London's West End when we were there but never had the chance. It's good you have the inclination to go and not seems like it was somewhat impactful upon you.
Just don't, ever, life is there even when you swear at it :) I would love to see the play, what's its name in Romanian?
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You know, I feel the same way. I mean, even in the shittiest moments, I haven't found myself wanting to end it all. But I guess some do :(
In romana, au tradus-o 'O mie de motive' si se joaca la POINT in Buc si am vazut ca se mai duce si prin tara cu ea, uneori... Mie Piersic Jr mi se pare un actor fenomenal. Are ceva asa cald si intim ca simti ca stai cu el pe canapea de vorba, sa nu mai zic ca joaca excelent...si 'Freak Show' (one-man show chiar scris de el) e fantastic. :D
Cool, imi programez sa vin in Bucuresti astfel incat sa o vad :) Multu
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Also for anyone contemplating suicde, or just feeling miserable or struggling with anything... you're not alone!
That's the 'wisdom of sociology'.
It's actually the foundational study of sociology... suicide!
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