Please note that this release discusses suicidal depression. The Canada Suicide Prevention Service line is available 24/7 at 1-833-456-4566.
Beginning July 24th, a unique theatre experience is launching at the Orillia Opera House. A play that has been celebrated in London, New York, and a handful of theatres in Ontario, is now getting an original Orillia production.
Every Brilliant Thing provides an uplifting approach to life via a story told about the effects of suicidal depression. It’s hard to imagine such a serious topic being illuminated using humour and story-telling but that is what playwright Duncan Macmillan and actor Jonny Donahoe achieve with Every Brilliant Thing. The Orillia production stars Dora Award-winning actor Matt Pilipiak, from last year’s Bed and Breakfast, a show that played to an entirely sold out run at the Studio Theatre.
“Though the back story for this is very serious, Matt is able to weave us through a journey that keeps us laughing, engaged, thoughtful at times— but most of all inspired. Nothing is trivialized. It’s a serious topic explored using a primary tool of theatre: comedy. I can’t recall anything quite like it and yet it is exactly the kind of story and character-based theatre that our audiences love at the O.” Says Jesse Collins, artistic director at the Opera House.
It starts with Pilipiak’s character recounting how, as a child, he begins a list of every small thing that made life wonderful to give to his mother as she faces bouts of crushing depression. It evolves into a tale of his own life via simple interactions with the audience.
The show is directed by Fiona Sauder, a long-time collaborator with Pilipiak.”It’s a play that makes the whole audience a community, immediately,” added Sauder. The multi-Dora award winning director is returning to the Opera House after directing Matt in Bed and Breakfast.
Since then, the company she founded with Pilipiak (Bad Hats Theatre) is receiving rave reviews and productions in Toronto, Winnipeg, and will launch a Canadian tour of their newest show Narnia, next year.
The Opera House team is excited to to offer audiences an experience that is a little different than a typical sit-in-the-dark presentation. Says Collins, “But we really want folks to know that it’s not intimidating. It’s just welcoming. No matter the mood you’re in when you arrive – even if its a terrific one, you’ll leave the theatre more happy and hopeful than when you came. And you’ll have been entertained. Delightfully entertained.”
Tickets can be reserved in-person at the Box Office, by calling (705) 326-8011, or by visiting orilliaoperahouse.ca.
