Every Brilliant Thing back for Winterruption festival
Every Brilliant Thing returns for Winterruption
It’s been well over a year since the first time Every Brilliant Thing was staged in Saskatoon, but the message of the play hasn’t diminished.
Every Brilliant Thing is a one-person play that examines issues of depression and mental health as the main character makes a list of brilliant things that make life worthwhile.
“A lot of the play still feels as relevant and important to tell as it did before,” performer Jenna-lee Hyde said.
“The amazing thing that happened the first time around was that I saw how much people not only wanted to support me in this play, but how much they wanted to support each other.”
It’s one of the more unique offerings at this year’s Winterruption, as the restaging of the play at The Refinery from Jan. 23 to 26 is a part of that arts festival.
In the Burnt Thicket Theatre production, Hyde once again is the solo performer in the play.
She got used to the audience interaction portions of the show. But as the play has had time to “percolate” with her, Hyde said she feels this time around she’s a little more confident with handling the material.
“Even coming at it now, there are certain lines ... now I say them out loud in a totally different way and they feel different,” she said. “I’m excited to share this play with a little bit of a different mindset.”
Hyde won a Saskatoon and Area Theatre Award for her leading role in Every Brilliant Thing the first time around in the fall of 2018, and the show was also nominated for Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Production. Stephen Waldschmidt, the director of the show and artistic director of Burnt Thicket Theatre, said he’s thrilled to bring it back once again with Hyde.
"(The audience) will laugh, hilarious laughter, and they will be inspired,” Waldschmidt said. “And probably most people will be moved to tears ... it’s a very beautifully poignant show.”
The production at The Refinery will be the first of a few in the near future for this play. Every Brilliant Thing will head from The Refinery to the Globe Theatre in Regina to open its 2020 Sandbox Series, and will be on the road again for performances at Rosebud Theatre in Alberta later in the summer.
The show came back to Saskatoon due to popular demand. It was a hit in the fall of 2018 during the original Saskatoon run, and the first show of Winterruption sold out so quickly they added an additional show on Sunday.
Waldschmidt said it’s uplifting to see so much interest in a funny but emotional show.
“My favourite part of the show is watching people respond to Jenna-lee’s performance,” he said. “It’s been so satisfying and encouraging.”
It’s a terribly vulnerable position for any performer to be the only one onstage, and the deeply personal content of this show doesn’t make that any easier for Hyde. But she said one of the best parts of being able to perform Every Brilliant Thing again was seeing an audience experience it again.
“It brings people together ... who all experience the same thing, and then they can leave having shared an experience no one else had that evening,” she said.