Every Brilliant Thing Starring Jonny Donahoe
New Beginnings present
Every Brilliant Thing
Starring Jonny Donahoe
Written by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe
October 24 and 26, 2025
From Drama Desk Award-nominated writer and performer Jonny Donahoe and Olivier Award-nominated writer Duncan Macmillan, Every Brilliant Thing returns to Santa Barbara for the second time with the show’s original co-creator and star, Jonny Donahoe. This unique and critically acclaimed play has become a global stage phenomenon, playing in over 80 countries worldwide.
You’re seven years old. Mum’s in hospital. Dad says she’s ‘done something stupid’. She finds it hard to be happy. You start a list of everything that’s brilliant about the world. Everything worth living for. You leave it on her pillow. You know she’s read it because she’s corrected your spelling.
A child attempts to ease their mother’s depression by creating a list of all the best things in the world. Through adulthood, as the list grows, they learn the deep significance it has in their own life. Every Brilliant Thing is a comedy about the lengths we will go for those we love.
Reviews:
“Rich with theatrical innovation, it is truly a brilliant thing. I wrote this with tears in my eyes”
The Times
“An extraordinarily rich hour of theatre…unmissable.”
The Observer
“The old critical cliché-you’ll laugh, you’ll cry”-very much applies. But Mostly You’ll Laugh.”
The Los Angeles Times
