Review: EVERY BRILLIANT THING (Sue Perkins), @sohoplace

Photo credit: Danny Kaan

Lively music plays as we take our seats in the auditorium and there’s an immediate buzz about the room. Sue Perkins mills about the space, mingling and chatting with members or the audience, and creating a feeling of familiarity amongst the crowd. This is a subtle yet decisive choice which prepares us for what’s to come.

Since first being performed in 2014, there have been many renditions of Duncan Macmillan’s Every Brilliant Thing but somehow this one feels extra special. @sohoplace is spoiling us with an exciting premise; ‘one part, five actors’, and Perkins is part of the celebrity lineup. She’s in excellent company alongside Lenny Henry, Jonny Donahoe (the original performer and co-creator of the piece), Ambika Mod and Minnie Driver - each actor with their own limited run of this heartening one-person show.

If there was ever a performance space made for this script, it’s @sohoplace. Designed to be in-the-round and with sections of high tiered seating, it perfectly balances intimacy with grandeur. Perkins utilises the space effortlessly as she talks us through the protagonist’s observations and experiences of depression. As a child, she starts writing a list of brilliant things in an attempt to break her mother free from the grips of suicidal thoughts, and she grows up, the list also continues to grow and somewhat becomes a character in its own right.

Directed by Duncan MacMillan and Jeremy Herrin, props are few and far between, with most borrowed from members of the audience, which only adds to that familiar feeling of catching up with an old friend, retelling memories in an ‘off the cuff’ manner. There’s a certain level of audience participation which is essential to this show but Perkins’ ability to coax out stage worthy acting performances from the crowd is both impressive and endearing. She’s undoubtedly hilarious, but with the perfect amount of vulnerability and pacing within her storytelling, she masterfully takes us from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. There’s a particular moment early on involving a vet and a beloved elderly pet, which beautifully sets in motion the artistic direction and emotive content of the show.

Perkins does a fantastic job in honouring Macmillan’s work whilst also bringing her own beloved sense of humour to the stage. She transports us through a lifetime of love, loss and everything in between, allowing the laughter to flow and the sombre moments to land poignantly as we hang on her every word. It truly was a brilliant thing.

***** Five stars

Reviewed by: Chess Hayden

Every Beautiful Thing plays @sohoplace until 8 November, with tickets available here.