'Every Brilliant Thing' review — Lenny Henry effortlessly anchors this joyful participatory experience

Read our review of Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe's one-person show Every Brilliant Thing, now in performances at @sohoplace to 21 September.

Duncan Macmillan’s bittersweet solo play about a boy-cum-man attempting to defy depression by finding joy in everyday pleasures has been performed in 80 countries around the world, and Jonny Donahoe, who originated the part at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2014 and has gone on to perform it over 400 times, has essentially been part of the show’s fabric until now – even sharing writer credits with Macmillan.

A year on from its 10-year-anniversary revival, Every Brilliant Thing has been given a sizeable scaleup, leaving Edinburgh’s 167-seater Roundabout for a considerably bigger in-the-round venue: 600-seater @sohoplace. And following a format that previously worked well for the young West End theatre’s production of Nassim Soleimanpour’s White Rabbit Red Rabbit, it’s got a rotating cast of celebrities performing it, with Lenny Henry, Ambika Mod, Sue Perkins and Minnie Driver each putting a personal spin on the role, plus Donahoe also returning for select performances.

Press night of this starry new production, co-directed by Macmillan and his People, Places & Things collaborator Jeremy Herrin, goes to Henry, who works the bigger auditorium with a twinkly-eyed, effortless authority.

As those familiar with the show will know, it leans heavily on audience participation. The unnamed protagonist begins compiling a list of every good thing he can think of after his mum first makes an attempt on her life. Each time he says a number, the audience member holding a slip of paper with that number must call out the good thing on their list. It’s a list that matures with him, beginning with childhood pleasures like wearing a cape and staying up past bedtime to watch TV, and growing more reflective – there’s a wonderfully convoluted anecdote about the fallibility of perception when the train next to yours pulls out of the station.

Initially, he aims to think of 1,000 brilliant things, but the list continues to grow until it reaches a million, with his personal milestones, like falling in love, inspiring new additions.

Henry establishes expectations swiftly: audience members must speak loudly and quickly when their number is called. Those with a slip of paper get off relatively lightly in a show that also asks faces in the crowd to play characters: one becomes his partner Sam, another his school counsellor (tasked with turning their sock into a puppet), another a vet, and another his father.

Belongings are handed onto the stage too: a coat, a pen and books among them. It’s a piece that requires a real willingness among its viewers to run, and Henry has the measure of this, making one shy participant feel more comfortable with a hug, and coaxing another to lean further into her role.

While there’s plenty of warmth and humour to it, I felt a depth missing. Watching Donahoe perform the part, it truly felt like his story, his depression. This version never quite plumbs those depths, and the plot is held aloof, as if secondary to the audience participation. Yet what Henry pulls off is no small feat – as a collective, participatory experience, it’s really quite brilliant.

Every Brilliant Thing is at @sohoplace to 8 November. Book Every Brilliant Thing tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Photo credit: Every Brilliant Thing (Photos by Helen Murray)