Local theatre is set to host a new production in the spring, which will star Amy Reid.
Squamish’s Eagle Eye Theatre stage will host the production, Every Brilliant Thing, by Between Shifts Theatre Society from March 16 to 19 and 23 to 26 at 7:30 p.m. each night. The play, which was written by Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe, is about a mother and daughter taking on the aftermath of a suicide attempt.
“When her mother attempts suicide, a young girl tries to write down every small ‘brilliant thing' to show her life is indeed worth living for. What begins as a tiny offering turns into thousands upon thousands of things that follow her throughout her efforts to reveal the true meaning of happiness,” reads a news release about the play.
Reid, who recently played a social services worker in Netflix’s Maid, is back again at the Eagle Eye Theatre after recently wrapping Once Upon A Cold Snap, by Squamish playwright Katherine Fawcett, which ran in late November and early December.
What makes this new show unique, said Reid, is that she will be performing by herself with a little help from the audience.
“It's a one-woman show and my role is simply the narrator,” she said. “The other characters in the play are actually played by audience members.”
But, without spoiling the show, Reid promised that the audience would be guided in their parts and, as such, the play would offer a different type of viewing experience for them.
“It feels almost more like a conversation with the audience than it does like a traditional play that you would go and sit on the other side of the stage and watch the story unfold in front of you.”
Reid said she was drawn to this play because of its take and view on depression and mental health as a whole.
“It's a look at depression and mental health, but it's done in a way that's quite funny. It's a really charming sort of take on a heavy topic,” she said.
Additionally, she said that the play offers her a chance to sharpen her improvisation skills as each performance will have a new audience that may interact with her differently.
She added that she hopes that this play will inspire new performers to engage in Squamish’s community theatre scene.
“With all the rising costs and everything of living in Squamish, we've definitely lost a lot of our key players moving to different communities… So, we'd love to have some of the new folks who have also moved here engage and be a part of [local theatre] because it's worth it.”
Once the show wraps in Squamish, it will be performed at the North Shore Zone of Theatre BC’s Festival of Plays in April 2022, as long as there are no disruptions due to COVID-19.
Ultimately, Squamish is in store for a poignant production.
“The beautiful thing about this story is that it's not really about the depression. It's about the beautiful, tiny, seemingly insignificant, brilliant things that happen every day in your life that make this beautiful life worth living,” said Reid.
Tickets and more information about Every Brilliant Thing are available on the Between Shifts Theatre website.
Audience members will have to adhere to any COVID-19 health and safety guidelines in effect.
