He is seven years old. His mum is in hospital, and she finds it hard to be happy. So he starts a list of everything worth living for: ice cream, pillow fights, the colour yellow, a game of gully cricket. That small act is the heart of Every Brilliant Thing, a QTP production that first opened in March 2019 at Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai.
Nothing on the list is grand, and that is why it works. The play reminds us that joy often hides in the everyday things we stop noticing as we grow up. Then it turns the question to you: what would you put on your list? You will probably start drafting one in your head before the evening ends.
The production is staged in the round, so there is no distance between performer and audience. You are inside the story rather than watching it from afar. That closeness suits a play about love, life, family and mental health, and it handles these subjects with warmth and humour rather than heaviness. It is uplifting without pretending life is simple.
Written by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe, the play is performed by Vivek Madan and directed by Quasar Thakore Padamsee. Filmmaker Akarsh Khurana calls it a must-watch and an extremely important play, praising Vivek as brave, full of surprises and endlessly watchable.
It runs for 75 minutes with no interval and is suitable for ages 14 and above. Come ready to laugh and tear up in the same moment.
QTP Entertainment