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The Most Brilliant Thing: Being Captured by Theater
Text by Tora HSU, artistic director at 4 Chairs Theatre
I was actually not into interactive performances for a long time and frequently felt alienated by even those full of positive energy, but one such piece, Every Brilliant Thing, changed my view of why theater is still so important in contemporary society over the past few years. This plain, simple, yet strongly therapeutic one-man show seems to remind me (us) of why we need to sit with a bunch of strangers to watch performances and share our feelings.
Every Brilliant Thing was created by British playwright Duncan Macmillan and British comedian Jonny Donahoe. It begins with the only character, the narrator, describing how he dealt with his mother's attempted suicide when he was seven and tried to help her break from the bonds of depression by making a list of all the things he believes are worth staying alive for.
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There are countless theater and film pieces on depression, but Every Brilliant Thing is a rarity in that it's gentle and humorous, even to the point of eliciting howls of laughter from the audience at times. Current society is by no means unfamiliar with depression, but mainstream media's bloodlust has overly stigmatized suicide and depression. This is part of the inspiration for Every Brilliant Thing: Macmillan wanted the piece to discuss these issues in the most ordinary tone, so instead of making it emotional and painted with tragedy, he chose comedy to discuss the influence depression and suicide have on people.
More importantly, he wanted it to be something that everyone can relate to.
So during the performance, audience participation is a must. The narrator talks about critical moments in life in detail, continually adding to the list, and when the narrator yells out a number, the vet, counselor, university professor, girlfriend, and father of the narrator invite the person in the audience with that number to perform with the protagonist.
Before its debut, I had my doubts about such an interactive performance. I wondered, will members of the audience really participate? Can the performer really respond well to what will happen during the unrehearsed interaction? Is the audience participation just a stunt, or is it really necessary? I also wondered why I should produce a play done in a way that I'm not familiar with or even into. But performance after performance showed me that the audience's participation is both a structural aspect and an integral part of the narrator and the story. By saying items on the list and playing characters, the audience in fact takes part in what the characters have experienced.
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I'm a director, and this was the first time I couldn't mentally grasp a piece, because all the responses and interaction from the audience are completely unknown until they actually happen. Obviously, this is quite challenging and even horrifying for the performer.
I often joke with the performers that the piece can't really be rehearsed. This is no exaggeration, because even though we may try to prepare for whatever responses, types of interaction, and behavior members of the audience might provide, every show is a surprise. What they do leads to improvised reactions by the performers, but with Macmillan's clever design, they end up completing the piece together, though not always smoothly – at times the participants are so shy or nervous that we hit blanks and moments of awkwardness. Nonetheless, the rest of the audience is always understanding.
The unknown, uncertain, accidental, rough plainness, negligence-induced flaws, and resulting gentleness and interaction are actually the nature of theater and a precise metaphor for life. Every Brilliant Thing seems light but in fact carries an unbearable weight, though with the power of theater, it captures the characters and the emotions of the audience.
For this year's production, besides CHU Ding-yi and LIN Chia-chi, WANG Shih-wei has joined the team as we hope to echo the diversity in terms of gender, age, race, and disposition seen in the play's performers around the world. Moreover, we look forward to Taiwanese performers from even more walks of life sharing this story in the future.
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