James Rowland Finds Heartbreak & Hilarity In Smash Hit Production 'Every Brilliant Thing'

Attending a play about depression might not readily spring to mind as a rib-tickling night out, and given its themes, those in search of pleasant distractions on the stage might well overlook playwright Duncan Macmillan and comedian Jonny Donahoe's exploration of depression and suicide, Every Brilliant Thing. Ironically, they would be missing out on one of the most powerfully life-affirming and uplifting new dramatic works of recent years — a show which has become a global smash hit, touring all over the world (including an extensive trek around Australia last year), as well as receiving a television adaptation courtesy of the biggest wheel in American programming, HBO.

"I want to do it justice, but I think if I tried to mimic what Jonny does it would feel hollow."

Indeed, this one-man production is now so well-travelled it is entering its second epoch. After being driven exclusively by Donahoe since its premiere in 2014, the show is now, for the first time, due to be helmed by another actor, James Rowland. It's hardly a radical notion for a play, particularly one as successful as this, to cycle through several performers, but Every Brilliant Thing toes the line between theatrical artifice and personal confession, blurring the boundary between fantasy and fact. Passing the torch has the potential to radically alter the impact of this show, but Rowland has some advantages in this instance. "Jonny and I are really good friends, and in the grand scheme of humanity, we have an awful lot in common," he explains. "I really loved this production when I first saw it. I want to do it justice, but I think if I tried to mimic what Jonny does it would feel hollow. It's the kind of text that needs to be pumped up with personality to thrive. You've got to be yourself."

At the nucleus of this production is a list of brilliant things, compiled from childhood by the show's sole performer. It's a gloriously daffy catalogue, including everything from "staying up late," to "rollercoasters", "people falling over" and "kind old people who are not weird and don't smell." But it's the way this weird and wonderful inventory tackles the thorny stigma of mental illness that is perhaps the most brilliant thing of all.

Members of the audience are tasked with reading out these items, eliciting giggles and guffaws along the way and generating a galvanising sense of community. So far, so silly, but the purpose of this list is soon revealed. We meet our protagonist aged six. His mum's in hospital. His dad says she's 'done something stupid'. She finds it hard to be happy, and even harder to go on living. So our hero starts a list of everything that's brilliant about the world. Everything that's worth living for. By turns hilarious and heart-breaking, this touching, achingly beautiful show is that rarest of productions that jerks tears of both joy and sorrow, often simultaneously.

The audience participation — potentially the kiss of death for a show if done poorly — is a lynchpin element in Every Brilliant Thing. It's also one of the aspects Rowland is particularly excited by. "People expect a separation between the audience and the performer, but when you take that distance and formality away it has the double effect of waking people up and relaxing them at the same time. Then we're just people in a room and we're just going to share a story."

James Rowland stars in Every Brilliant Thing, 8 — 11 Mar at QPAC's Cremorne Theatre, Brisbane, and 14 —  18 Mar at the Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre.