Review: Every Brilliant Thing at Theatre by the Lake

“…warm, delightful, joyous and funny – a love letter to anyone who struggles with depression…”

Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe, Theatre by the Lake

By Ken Powell

Theatre by the Lake (TBTL) puts on a great variety of shows – more than most other theatres, I would contend. You get the classic plays. You get the great musicals. You get the guaranteed laugh-out-loud productions. You get the dramas that can tear your heart apart. But you also get the productions that can be genuinely said to be life-changing without resorting to hyperbole. Every Brilliant Thing is one such production.

I saw the one-man show three years ago at TBTL and raved about it then saying that it was, “powerful and might just be one of the most important productions Theatre by the Lake have ever put on.” My view has not changed on that matter. In fact, I think this is a performance that people need to see more than ever. It is a dark irony of reality that, at the time of writing, the news is awash with the tragic death of a person who exemplifies precisely why Every Brilliant Thing matters so much.

We go through the life of one unnamed man, starting from when he was a little boy, dealing with a mother who keeps attempting to take her own life. We see his life progress and how he comes to terms with being more like his mum than he realises. This sounds heavy but – really, really remarkably – it’s not. That’s because this character finds a way through the trauma – he makes a list. The focus of the play is on this list, one that pervades his entire life and spills out into the audience itself, continuing on into the present and into real life. Indeed, the fruits of that remain on the walls of TBTL three years on and were added to last night when I was there. The list lives on.

The success or failure of a production like this rests very firmly on the actor playing the part. Andy Turner played the role last time and they brought him back to do it again this time too. It was a wise, wise choice. If you had some kind of alpha-male, Andrew Tate-like actor taking this role, it would be a catastrophic parody of the true intentions of the writers. Turner, by contrast, has a smile that lights up the room and is welcoming and friendly. Both he and the character he portrays are warm, delightful and safe.

I know this because I spent some time chatting with the actor after the show (for reasons I shall make apparent shortly). To my chagrin, I said to him that I would really love to see him in other productions at TBTL not realising for a second that he already has: he was the narrator, Shane, in Brassed Off, two years ago. I raved about him then saying, “He’s a delight. I can’t help but hope the actor is as lovely as the characters he inevitably plays. He makes them beautiful.” I stand by this comment too, only now I can confirm that Turner really is that lovely. He’s a bloke you’d happily spend hours chatting with in a pub and not notice the hours slipping away. I’m embarrassed that I’d forgotten him in that role, so firmly do I associate him with Every Brilliant Thing.

I wouldn’t normally mention chatting with actors in a review – we reviewers are meant to be impartial, you know – but in this case it is important. Turner and the TBTL team are taking the production on tour around Cumbria, just as they did last time. The impact this show can and does have on the audience, and the fact that they have a Q & A at the end of each show, means that it is essential that all the people involved are genuine and likeable. Andy Turner is that in spades.

And while highlighting the actor’s importance as a solo artist, this production has not just the usual crew needed for lighting, sound and so on, but teams of people trained and ready to sit down and talk with anyone in the audience who has been affected by the themes raised. This year these teams are drawn from Every Life Matters, PAPYRUS and Andy’s Man Club – all organisations dealing with suicide prevention. That makes the whole event a very safe place for the community to come, be entertained (because it is genuinely a very joyful and funny production) and talk afterwards with someone who understands.

I urge you to see the show at a venue near you if you can’t get to Keswick. You can find out where the show is touring here. I want to highlight one place local to me though, as an example of how the show may help communities.

Hope Haven is a new drop-in community mental health hub that opened in Whitehaven this year and tries to help people who otherwise tend to fall between the cracks in the healthcare system. In just a few short months, Hope Haven has made a tangible difference and caught the attention of MP Josh MacAlister. On one of his social media posts he shares some statistics that I will quote below (bold emphasis mine):

Between January – May 2026:

📈 Over 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ people received support
📊 A quarter of those people had not engaged with local NHS mental health services before

Compared to the same period (January – May) last year:

⬇️ Admissions to adult acute inpatient services in North Cumbria have gone down by nearly a quarter (23%)
⬇️ Local NHS Community Treatment Team referrals are down by 20%
⬇️ There has been a 30% drop in people attending West Cumberland Hospital A&E due to self-harm, and 15% fewer people attending due to mental health

These are superb results and Every Brilliant Thing fits perfectly into the ethos of the centre. I’m looking forward to seeing how the two performances at Hope Haven go down – I suspect they will be deeply impactful. If you’re local to Whitehaven, please get a ticket for the evening show!

It is all but impossible to stay impartial with a show like Every Brilliant Thing. I’ve suffered from depression all my life and, as a teenager, had a really rough time of it. I’m lucky that I have positive coping strategies to deal with The Black Dog, as I call it, but, moreover, I have a community of support who help me through the dark times and I’m grateful for every single one of them. Every Brilliant Thing offers similar support to communities wherever it is performed. It is warm, delightful, joyous and funny – a love letter to anyone who struggles with depression or who has a loved one in their life who does.

Every Brilliant Thing plays at Theatre by the Lake until Saturday 5 September. Tickets are available here.

Ken Powell is chief editor for Northern Arts Review and is also a bestselling author and writer for various publications around the world. A former school teacher, he continues to write educational books along with fiction and travelogues. You can find all his books and various websites here including his popular TEDx talk about the Global Village. He lives with his family in a wonderfully isolated village in West Cumbria where he enjoys drinking tea, chatting with the birds and winding up his dog. You can support his work (or just buy him a coffee) here.