For CCAE’s ‘Every Brilliant Thing,’ the audience is part of the story

Allison Spratt Pearce rehearses a scene for CCAE Theatricals’ “Every Brilliant Thing.” (Michael Pearce)

PUBLISHED: July 2, 2024 at 6:00 AM PDT

For the narrator in “Every Brilliant Thing” the work begins a half-hour before the performance does. The interactive monologue of the 70-minute solo play written by British playwright Duncan Macmillan and Irish writer-comedian Jonny Donahoe requires that the actor in the part engage in pre-show conversation with patrons waiting to go into the theater and, in doing so, identify candidates for audience participation.

“We are a part of the same world,” explained Allison Spratt Pearce, one of the four rotating narrators in CCAE Theatricals’ production of “Every Brilliant Thing,” opening Friday, July 5, in Escondido. “We’re in this together.”

Besides Spratt Pearce, recently seen in CCAE Theatricals’ “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” the other narrators are DeAndre Simmons (from the company’s productions of “Sunday in the Park with George” and “Ain’t Misbehavin’”), Steven Lone and Bethany Slomka. The four actors will alternate in the role of a character at different stages of life who is haunted by her or his mother’s depression and attempted suicides.

In addition to the audience recruited to portray people in the narrator’s life, patrons will provide suggestions for a list of things that make life worth living, whether it’s roller coasters or ice cream or warm hugs on a cold night. In other words, “brilliant” things (to Britons, brilliant means very good or exceptional, not highly intelligent) that are life affirming.

Sticky notes with potential "brilliant things" on a note board at a rehearsal for CCAE Theatricals' production of the play "Every Brilliant Thing." (Michael Pearce) — Sticky notes with potential “brilliant things” on a note board at a rehearsal for CCAE Theatricals’ production of the play “Every Brilliant Thing.” (Michael Pearce)

“This is the beauty of live theater,” said Spratt Pearce, a veteran San Diego actress. “The audience is always part of the relationship, but we don’t usually get to engage with them and make them part of the story. This really is an immersive experience.”

How audience will “perform” in the moment could be a daunting proposition, but Spratt Pearce said “I’m excited about that. It’s a game of chance. I luckily can just trust that it’s going to be OK and that we’re all on the same journey.”

It’s that game of chance that makes “Every Brilliant Thing,” which made its West Coast premiere in 2018 at Cygnet Theatre in Old Town, unique and connective storytelling.

Actor Allison Spratt Pearce, left, and director J. Scott Lapp at a rehearsal for CCAE Theatricals' "Every Brilliant Thing." (Michael Pearce) — Actor Allison Spratt Pearce, left, and director J. Scott Lapp at a rehearsal for CCAE Theatricals’ “Every Brilliant Thing.” (Michael Pearce)

“We often think about theater being live and a different experience every time you go and see it,” said J. Scott Lapp, artistic director of CCAE Theatricals and director of this production. “With this show, it actually is. There is this intimate interaction between the narrator and the audience where every sniffle or gasp or laugh will affect how the actor will play the next moment.”

That’s right. Laughter. In the midst of the deep and dark subject matter behind the story are humor and joy – and love.

“This show is about living life to its fullest and also about human connection,” said Lapp, who will direct “Every Brilliant Thing” in the round. “It’s about this young person’s list to try and cheer up his mother who is questioning whether she wants to go on. It becomes this kind of poignant and surprising love letter to humanity.

Actor Steven Lone rehearses a scene for CCAE Theatricals' production of the audience-interactive play "Every Brilliant Thing." (Michael Pearce) — Actor Steven Lone rehearses a scene for CCAE Theatricals’ production of the audience-interactive play “Every Brilliant Thing.” (Michael Pearce)

“Audiences can find joy in the fact that it’s not so heavy that you’re trying to just get through it. They’ll find they will laugh and chuckle and feel the emotion the narrator is going through. This show is more of a conversation than a performance. The (house) lights are left on the whole time the narrator is engaged with the audience. It’s real life. It puts us all in this conversation together.”

This kind of setting, said Spratt Pearce, “allows a safe space for the audience to listen to a subject no one really talks about, and then even walk out happy. One of my favorite things to do in theater is to have a juxtaposition between this really heavy subject matter balanced with lightness and humor.”

This weekend, Spratt Pearce will play the narrator on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Lone taking over Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Simmons and Slomka make their debuts the weekend of July 12-14.