Finding Joy in the Middle of the Room
A funny, moving play from Ten Feet Tall about mental health opens this week at The Lemon Tree
From the outside, Every Brilliant Thing might look like a typical one-person play. But it does something different. The performance happens in the middle of the room, and the audience helps tell the story. Ten Feet Tall Theatre is offering an experience that feels open, spontaneous and quietly affecting. You can catch it at The Lemon Tree this Thursday, 12th June.
Adapted from Duncan Macmillan’s script, Every Brilliant Thing tells the story of a child who begins a list of everything worth living for, starting with ice cream and growing from there. As they grow older, so does the list, becoming a way of making sense of the world and the people they love.
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Theatre with the lights on
It’s a short piece, only about an hour long, but what makes it stand out is how the story is shared. There’s no raised stage or fourth wall. The play is performed in the round, with the audience facing each other. The storytelling happens between people, not apart from them.
It’s funny and heartfelt, touching on difficult topics like depression and suicide without ever losing its sense of warmth. The format allows the story to stay close to real life. There’s no distance. It feels like a conversation.
After this week’s showing, the show will be performed in secondary schools across Aberdeen, finishing with public performances at Old Torry Community Centre on Sunday, 22 June at 1.30pm and 4.30pm.
“It’s a bit different from a simple sit-down in a darkened room and watch,” says director Cameron Mowat. “But that’s what Ten Feet Tall are all about, bringing different experiences to the people of the North East.”
Accessible and personal
Performances are recommended for ages 14+. The content is serious, but handled with care and humour. Audience interaction is part of the structure, but it’s never about putting people on the spot. It’s about sharing a moment.
This is the company’s final project supported by Aberdeen City Council’s Creative Funding programme, after changes to the fund made them ineligible going forward. Despite that, they continue to offer shows on a pay-what-you-can basis, keeping theatre open to as many people as possible.
It’s not something you just sit back and watch. You’re part of the telling, in a room full of people quietly asking the same question: what makes life worth living?
