'Every Brilliant Thing' Broadway review — it takes a village, and a joyful Daniel Radcliffe

Read our review of Every Brilliant Thing on Broadway, an interactive solo play starring Tony Award winner Daniel Radcliffe alongside audience participants.

Summary

• Every Brilliant Thing is an interactive solo play starring Daniel Radcliffe as a man who makes a list of ordinary joys to cheer up his depressed mother
• Radcliffe's warm and charming performance buoys the often vague and broad-stroked script
• The show involves consensual audience participation and Radcliffe cultivates deep trust and tenderness with participants
• The show is recommended for fans of Radcliffe's varied career and of interactive shows

It feels like just yesterday that Daniel Radcliffe was the talk of the town for starring in the 2024 revival of Merrily We Roll Along — and winning the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, an apex of a long Broadway career that began in his teens. But in Every Brilliant Thing, a solo play that relies on audience interaction to build out the story, Radcliffe is taking on a Broadway show unlike any he’s done before.

You may have seen one of the viral videos of Radcliffe in the audience before a show, seeking out volunteers and preparing those who consent. He has something like a doctor’s bedside manner, reassuring and incredibly charming. It’s no different seeing Radcliffe in person, except that there’s a frenetic energy about him as well. Radcliffe’s character, the unnamed Narrator, is wildly physical. He achieves the highest of highs and descends to the lowest of lows in a matter of moments.

Written by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe, the story itself is light on details, possibly to make the story as broadly relatable as possible. Sick mother, repressed father, stint at university, love of vinyl records, marriage, divorce: most theatregoers can relate to at least one of these vague plot points or personality traits. Macmillan, who also co-directs the show with Jeremy Herrin, says in the program that the play has “spoken to different communities of people who I could never write a play for.” But the lack of details tends to leave the story feeling unfinished, or merely a sketch — filled in by the power of Radcliffe’s enthusiasm. His “bedside manner” remains strong when he involves audience members on stage.

The participants' trust in Radcliffe makes for some impossibly tender moments. It’s hard to imagine the Narrator’s relationship with his gender-neutral partner Sam or his talks with his elementary school psychologist apart from the members of my audience who played these roles. But it’s a testament to Radcliffe for cultivating that trust so he can create meaningful moments with new people every night.

With a 70-minute runtime and a heavy focus on audience participation, it’s almost impossible for the story, or the Narrator himself, to achieve the emotional depth people look for in a story as personal as one about suicidal depression. Maybe it’s the nature of a show so dependent on interactivity: The real magic comes from the transitory experience each new audience has together. And maybe it's the point Macmillan is trying to make: There are many ways to approach a subject so dark, and he has chosen to focus on the positive (or should I say, the “brilliant”) rather than getting into the inevitably tragic details.

I left delighted by the experience, albeit wishing the story had more substance. But regardless of whether Macmillan's approach works for you, Radcliffe will certainly do his damndest to charm you all the while.

Every Brilliant Thing summary

Written by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe (who was also the show’s original performer in 2013), Every Brilliant Thing follows an unnamed narrator who chronicles his lifelong relationship with suicidal depression, beginning with his mother’s suicide attempt. It prompts him to write her a list of everything he thinks is worth living for. His mother’s mental health struggles, and eventually his realization of his own, define the Narrator’s life. But so, too, does the list, which keeps coming back to him to provide hope and new outlooks on life when he least expects it.

What to expect at Every Brilliant Thing

Audience participation is an essential part of Every Brilliant Thing, but it's all consensual. In fact, as people are settling into their seats before the show, Radcliffe goes up to audience members and obtains their consent to play a part, however small. Some of the participants read items off the list from their seats, and some have more involved roles on stage. But everyone from my audience who got on stage was a natural. It could have been coincidence, or due to Radcliffe’s warm encouragement, or because they happened to be Broadway legend Donna Murphy who, attending on her birthday, got tapped to play the Narrator’s university professor.

It’s interesting to note that “brilliant” has a slightly different meaning in British English than in American English. Brits such as the playwrights use the word like Americans might use “awesome” or “great,” but “brilliant” has a loftier connotation in the States. This linguistic oddity means that for Americans, there's a greater sense of reverence for the “brilliant” things on the list — which is especially sweet when you apply it to the items added by the Narrator’s 7-year-old self, like ice cream and roller coasters. Oddly fitting, for a show about noticing and celebrating the importance of everyday things.

What audiences are saying about Every Brilliant Thing

Audiences have been taking to social media to express their excitement about the show, especially Radcliffe’s performance. Additionally, videos of Radcliffe in the audience charming volunteers have been going viral on Instagram and TikTok.

• “The audience participation…makes the story feel more human, more natural.” - Reddit user u/magicwithb
• “I really marveled at Daniel’s scene building and storytelling abilities.” - Reddit user u/sashgray
• “The highlight was the thrill of watching [Daniel Radcliffe] do his thing.” - Reddit user u/Dapper-Balance-4720

Who should see Every Brilliant Thing

• Fans of interactive theatre will have a profound experience at this show, in which even some of the darkest times in the Narrator’s life are defined by the audience members who participate and the choices they make.
• Fans of one-person shows will enjoy this show which, while not having a narrative as meaty as that of last summer’s Broadway solo show Call Me Izzy, is a unique experience in itself.
• Daniel Radcliffe has had an impressively varied stage and screen career since playing Harry Potter in the film series. Fans of his work will want to see him in this unique one-man show, in which his love of theatre and the people who appreciate it are obvious.

Learn more about Every Brilliant Thing on Broadway

Despite its dark subject matter, Every Brilliant Thing is a nightly experiment in the power of experiencing a shared moment and celebrating the everyday things in life.

Learn more and get Every Brilliant Thing tickets on New York Theatre Guide. Every Brilliant Thing is at the Hudson Theatre through May 24.

Photo credit: Daniel Radcliffe in Every Brilliant Thing on Broadway. (Photos by Matthew Murphy)