By Matthew Wexler
What brings you joy? And how interested are you in sitting in a theatre full of strangers shouting out playwright Duncan Macmillan’s answers to celebrated stage and screen actor Daniel Radcliffe? Your response may serve as the temperature gauge on whether Every Brilliant Thing is your cup of comfort tea, or a sip more tepid.
Developed more than a decade ago with the play’s original performer, Jonny Donahoe, the partly improvised play (heavy on audience participation) finally lands on Broadway with the kind of star power that can command a $450 premium ticket price.
The list begins, and so does the audience participation
At seven years old, Macmillan began keeping a list of brilliant things as a coping mechanism for his mother’s recurring depression and suicide attempts. The convention serves as a semi-autobiographical framework, from which Radcliffe engages with theatergoers, who have been vetted pre-show by the zippy actor and a posse of stage managers, dashing around the Hudson Theatre.
Radcliffe is everything you’d expect: charming, compact, and compelling in both the humor of the mundane and the harrowing effects of a parent whose depression could surface without warning. He explains the “social contagion” through both a clinical and societal lens. He also acknowledges that “If you live a long life… without ever once feeling crushingingly depressed, then you probably haven’t been paying attention.”
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But of the 62 countries and hundreds of stages Every Brilliant Thing has played, the Hudson may be the largest, which works against the material at nearly every turn. At the performance I attended, Tom Gibbons’ sound design failed to adequately amplify the scattered audience shout-outs. For all of Radcliffe’s kinetic charm and a plethora of dimly glowing Edison bulbs evoking Brooklyn coffee shop vibes, the 970-seat venue swallows up many of the brilliant things the actor is doing.
Despite its weighty subject matter, Radcliffe and the audience mesmerized by him remain buoyant, thanks to improvisation woven throughout. The unpredictability reminds us why we gather in theatres to begin with: a shared lived experience that will never be exactly the same.
So maybe the real question isn’t what brings you joy—it’s how much is a high-five from Daniel Radcliffe worth?
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, help is available. Call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, available 24/7.
Is ‘Every Brilliant Thing’ worth seeing?
3 out of 5 stars
Daniel Radcliffe is everything you want in Every Brilliant Thing. The Hudson Theatre just isn’t the venue for it.
- The Hudson Theatre, 141 West 44th Street, New York City
- Running time: Approximately 85 minutes, no intermission
- Notable performer: Daniel Radcliffe
- Performances through May 24, 2026
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