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November 23 - December 22, 2019 , The Helen

Every Brilliant Thing

by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe
directed by Laura Kepley

Run time: Approx. 90 minutes, no intermission

If you were to make a list of things that make life worth living, what would be at the top? Ice cream? Family? The even numbered Star Trek films? Who would you share your list with? For our character in this uplifting solo performance, it’s their mother. This surprising and immersive theatrical experience speaks openly about depression, mental illness, and suicide. With poignant humor and joy, Every Brilliant Thing takes us on a journey through grief, healing, falling in love, and (re)discovering all that life has to give.

To see the performer schedule, click here.

Photos & Videos Download Hi Res Photos

Alex Brightwell (Actor). Photo Credit: Roger Mastroianni

Tarah Flanagan (Actor). Photo Credit: Roger Mastroianni

Alex Brightwell (Actor). Photo Credit: Roger Mastroianni

Tarah Flanagan (Actor). Photo Credit: Roger Mastroianni

Alex Brightwell (Actor). Photo Credit: Roger Mastroianni

Tarah Flanagan (Actor). Photo Credit: Roger Mastroianni

Alex Brightwell (Actor), with audience participant. Photo Credit: Roger Mastroianni

Tarah Flanagan (Actor). Photo Credit: Roger Mastroianni

Alex Brightwell (Actor). Photo Credit: Roger Mastroianni

Tarah Flanagan (Actor). Photo Credit: Roger Mastroianni.

Artists

Tarah Flanagan

Tarah Flanagan

(Performer) New York Theatre: The Mint Theatre, Looking Glass Theatre, Hang a Tale productions at the Pearl Theatre (The Little Prince), and the Sheen Center (An Iliad). Regional Theatre: Actor's Theatre of Louisville, Alabama Shakespeare Fest., Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Crossroads Theatre, Eugene O'Neil Theatre, more(Performer) New York Theatre: The Mint Theatre, Looking Glass Theatre, Hang a Tale productions at the Pearl Theatre (The Little Prince), and the Sheen Center (An Iliad). Regional Theatre: Actor's Theatre of Louisville, Alabama Shakespeare Fest., Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Crossroads Theatre, Eugene O'Neil Theatre, Fulton Theatre, Pioneer Theatre, Public Theatre of Maine, Shakespeare Theatre of NJ, Studio Arena Theatre, and the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (title role in St. Joan). She has been a proud company member of the Great River Shakespeare Festival since 2007 where she serves as an Artistic Associate. Film/TV: Mother's Book, directed by Keith Joseph Atkins; PBS series, Futurestates; As the World Turns; and Darwin: the Series, directed by Carrie Preston. Directing/Choreography: Daisy 3 Pictures (Associate Producer, Choreographer): Darwin the Series, Actor's Theatre of Louisville Apprentice Program: Solo Mio projects, Great River Shakespeare Festival: (co-Director) An Iliad (Movement Choreographer) As You Like It, Romeo & Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, and Rozencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead. Shakespeare for Young Actors at GRSF (Program Director): As You Like It, Romeo & Juilet, The Tempest, Macbeth, Comedy of Errors, and Hamlet. Training: PCPA Theaterfest, Conservatory at Webster University (BFA), the Alabama Shakespeare Festival (MFA). Tarah is a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association.

Duncan Macmillan

(Playwright) DUNCAN MACMILLAN (Playwright) Plays include: People, Places and Things (2015-2017, National Theatre/Wyndham’s Theatre, West End); 1984, adapted from George Orwell (2013-2017, Headlong/Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company, West End, Broadway, international tours, co-adapted/co-directed with Rob Icke); Every Brilliant Thing (2013-2017, Paines Plough/Pentabus Theatre, Edinburgh Festival, UK and international tours, HBO); more(Playwright) DUNCAN MACMILLAN (Playwright) Plays include: People, Places and Things (2015-2017, National Theatre/Wyndham’s Theatre, West End); 1984, adapted from George Orwell (2013-2017, Headlong/Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company, West End, Broadway, international tours, co-adapted/co-directed with Rob Icke); Every Brilliant Thing (2013-2017, Paines Plough/Pentabus Theatre, Edinburgh Festival, UK and international tours, HBO); City of Glass, adapted from Paul Auster (2017, 59 Productions, HOME, and Lyric Hammersmith); 2071, co-written with Chris Rapley (2014-2015, The Royal Court/Hamburg Schauspielhaus); The Forbidden Zone (2014-2016, Salzburg Festival and Schaubühne Berlin); Wunshloes Unglück, adapted from Peter Handke (2014, Burgtheater Vienna); Reise Durch Die Nacht, adapted from Friederike Mayröcker (2012-2014, Schauspiel Köln, Festival d’Avignon, Theatertreffen); Lungs (2011-2016, Paines Plough and Sheffield Theatres/Studio Theatre, Washington, DC); and Monster (2006, Royal Exchange Theatre).

Laura Kepley

Laura Kepley

(Director) (she/her) became Artistic Director of Cleveland Play House in 2013, and has directed numerous CPH mainstage productions, including The Crucible; Sweat; The Diary of Anne Frank; In the Next Room, or the vibrator play; Into the Breeches!; Every Brilliant Thing; and the world premieres of Tiny Houses, The more(Director) (she/her) became Artistic Director of Cleveland Play House in 2013, and has directed numerous CPH mainstage productions, including The Crucible; Sweat; The Diary of Anne Frank; In the Next Room, or the vibrator play; Into the Breeches!; Every Brilliant Thing; and the world premieres of Tiny Houses, The Good Peaches, Fairfield, and A Carol for Cleveland. She joined CPH in 2010, having arrived from Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island, where she was Resident Director and Artistic Associate for four seasons and Interim Director of the Brown/Trinity Rep M.F.A. in Directing Program for one. She has also at Playhouse Square clevelandplayhouse.com 25 directed for The Alliance Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Chautauqua Theater Company, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Syracuse Stage, Trinity Rep, and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, among others. A native Ohioan, Laura received her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and her Master of Fine Arts from Brown University/Trinity Rep. She is a Drama League Fellow, a recipient of the 2009– 2011 National Endowment for the Arts/Theatre Communications Group Career Development Program for Directors, and a member of Leadership Cleveland’s Class of 2021. Locally, she has been recognized with multiple Outstanding Director commendations from The Cleveland Critics Circle, a Cuyahoga Community College Smart Business Smart Women Award, and a Crain’s Cleveland Woman of Note designation.

Jill Davis

(Scenic Designer) Scenic Designer) Professional set design: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Chautauqua Theater Company); Chez Feydeau (The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London); Marjorie Prime, The Mystery of Love and Sex, Belleville, Time Stands Still, and Grizzly Mama (Dobama Theater); and A Doll’s House (The American Stage Theater more(Scenic Designer) Scenic Designer) Professional set design: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Chautauqua Theater Company); Chez Feydeau (The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London); Marjorie Prime, The Mystery of Love and Sex, Belleville, Time Stands Still, and Grizzly Mama (Dobama Theater); and A Doll’s House (The American Stage Theater Company). Set designs for the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program include The Seagull, Macbeth, Clybourne Park, Too True to Be Good, Identity Theft, Present Laughter, An Orchard, and Angels in America: Millennium Approaches. Set designs for CWRU undergraduate productions include Uncle Vanya; Urinetown; In the Next Room, or the vibrator play; and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Jill is an Associate Professor at Case Western Reserve University and Resident Scenic and Lighting Designer for the Department of Theater. As the Charge Scenic Artist at Cleveland Play House 2001-2011, she was in charge of painting the sets for over 100 productions. Jilldavisscenicdesign.com.

Benjamin Gantose

(Lighting Designer) is a lighting, scenery, and installation designer and a Cleveland native. He is Resident Lighting Designer at Cleveland Public Theatre where recent designs have included Gloria, Fire on the Water, and Red Ash Mosaic. Other Cleveland design work includes Maelstrom Collaborative Arts, Beck Center for the Arts, more(Lighting Designer) is a lighting, scenery, and installation designer and a Cleveland native. He is Resident Lighting Designer at Cleveland Public Theatre where recent designs have included Gloria, Fire on the Water, and Red Ash Mosaic. Other Cleveland design work includes Maelstrom Collaborative Arts, Beck Center for the Arts, Talespinner Children’s Theater, Mamai Theatre Company, Baldwin Wallace University, Cleveland State University, Inlet Dance Theatre, and Verb Ballets. He is Resident Lighting Designer at Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati. Associate Design work includes lighting and scenic designs at Cincinnati Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Cedar Fair Amusement Parks, Cain Park, and Lakeland Civic Theatre.

Carolyn Dickey

(Costume Designer) is currently in her twenty-third season at Cleveland Play House where she is the assistant costume shop manager. Dickey recently designed costumes for CPH’s New Ground Theatre Festival production with The Cleveland Orchestra of Every Good Boy Deserves Favor, having also designed for many productions in CPH’s more(Costume Designer) is currently in her twenty-third season at Cleveland Play House where she is the assistant costume shop manager. Dickey recently designed costumes for CPH’s New Ground Theatre Festival production with The Cleveland Orchestra of Every Good Boy Deserves Favor, having also designed for many productions in CPH’s Theatre for Children series including The Little Mermaid, Huck Finn, A Jewel of a Tale, The Emperor’s Groovy New Clothes, Bunnicula, Wind in the Willows, Balto, and John Henry. Other credits include Dobama Theatre, Cleveland School of the Arts, Cleveland SignStage Theatre, Ohio Light Opera, Cleveland’s Lyric Opera Company, Shakespeare & Company, The Berkshire Theatre Festival, Cleveland-San Jose Ballet, and The Bang and The Clatter.

Nicholas Drashner

(Sound Designer) is a Cleveland-based sound designer and projection designer. Credits include: THIS (Dobama Theatre), The Seagull (Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House), This Might Be The End (THE TRIP, Theatre Lab NYC), Macbeth(Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House), The Last Tiger in Haiti (La Jolla Playhouse/Berkeley Repertory Theatre), more(Sound Designer) is a Cleveland-based sound designer and projection designer. Credits include: THIS (Dobama Theatre), The Seagull (Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House), This Might Be The End (THE TRIP, Theatre Lab NYC), Macbeth(Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House), The Last Tiger in Haiti (La Jolla Playhouse/Berkeley Repertory Theatre), Orpheus & Eurydice (THE TRIP, Theatre Lab NYC), The Astronaut Farmworker (La Jolla Playhouse), Suzette Who Set to Sea (La Jolla Playhouse/Honolulu Theatre for Youth), Beijing Spring (East West Players), Kingdom City (La Jolla Playhouse), Fool for Love (Chalk Repertory Theatre), Chagall (Malashock Dance), Lonely Boys Guide to Survival (La Jolla Playhouse), Words By (North Coast Repertory Theatre), Topdog/Underdog (Ion Theatre). He received an MFA in Sound Design for Theatre and Dance from University of California San Diego, and is currently Assistant Professor of Sound Design & Projection Design at Kent State University.

Maryann Morris

(Stage Manager) is a Cleveland native who also proudly Stage Manages. Recent mainstage works include Every Brilliant Thing, Pipeline, CPH’s Borderlight reading of Our Dad is in Atlantis, Native Gardens, An Iliad, The Royale, The Diary of Anne Frank, ASM’ed The Good Peaches, hand-over SM’ed A Christmas Story and more(Stage Manager) is a Cleveland native who also proudly Stage Manages. Recent mainstage works include Every Brilliant Thing, Pipeline, CPH’s Borderlight reading of Our Dad is in Atlantis, Native Gardens, An Iliad, The Royale, The Diary of Anne Frank, ASM’ed The Good Peaches, hand-over SM’ed A Christmas Story and Sweat, and ASM’ed How I Learned to Drive, as well as Stage Managing several CPH New Ground Theatre works such as Grand Concourse and Fairfield. Other current and recent collaborations include Letters from Zora featuring Vanessa Bell Calloway at Karamu House, Havana Hop with Paige Hernandez, Eric Schmiedl’s stage adaptation of the graphic novel Incognegro by Mat Johnson, My Mother Has 4 Noses with Jonatha Brooke, The Dazzle Awards at Playhouse Square, and May 4th Voices presented by The Maltz Museum of Jewish History and Kent State University's Democracy Symposium.

Alex Brightwell

Alex Brightwell

(Performer) was most recently seen in Every Brilliant Thing at Cleveland Play House. He was born in West Virginia, raised in North Carolina, and earned his BFA from the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater Actor Training Program. He was a Conservatory member for the 2018 and 2019 seasons at more(Performer) was most recently seen in Every Brilliant Thing at Cleveland Play House. He was born in West Virginia, raised in North Carolina, and earned his BFA from the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater Actor Training Program. He was a Conservatory member for the 2018 and 2019 seasons at the Chautauqua Theater Company, where he played Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Alfie in One Man, Two Guvnors; Silvius in As You Like It; and Br’er Rabbit/Ratts in An Octoroon. Other Cleveland credits include the New Ground Theater Festival reading of Tiny Houses and the CWRU/CPH MFA productions of The Merchant of Venice, Hay Fever, The Seagull, and Fifth of July. He has also been seen at Yellow Tree Theater, Minnesota Jewish Theatre, Walking Shadow Theatre Company, Public Theater of Minnesota, and the Guthrie Theater.

Sponsors

Anne Marie & Bill Warren
Nancy Hancock Griffith
Meet CPH Managing Director Rachel Fink

Meet CPH Managing Director Rachel Fink

MEET RACHEL FINK, CPH’S NEW MANAGING DIRECTOR! By Craig Joseph, Literary Director What are you looking forward to as you return to Cleveland...

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The Allen, Helen and Outcalt theatres are located at Playhouse Square
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