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The Cygnet version stars local favorite Ro Boddie, an actor of enormous talent and an extremely engaging style. The playwright doesn\u2019t give him a name but calls him \u201cNarrator.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe list began after her first attempt,\u201d he tells the audience, referencing his mother\u2019s first suicide attempt when he was 7 years old. He thought that if he compiled a list of all the wonderful things in the world to live for (\u201cevery brilliant thing\u201d), it might keep her from trying again. (In British English, \u201cbrilliant\u201d means \u201cvery good.\u201d)<\/p>\n
Number one? Ice cream.<\/p>\n
The show takes the Narrator from the world of a young kid and his dad through the Narrator\u2019s high school and college experiences, and eventually to a marriage with its own problems \u2014 all haunted by the looming specter of another possible maternal suicide attempt.<\/p>\n The making (and reading) of the list \u2014 which will eventually have a million entries \u2014 comprises much of the show. The Narrator distributes pieces of paper with one brilliant thing each to selected audience members, who will read when their number is called. A few audience members will be called upon to interact with the Narrator.<\/p>\n Your mileage will vary with differences in audience participation. One major takeaway is that Cygnet needs to use microphones, at least for the folks who do more than read a list item. And the director needs to tell the folks given a piece of paper with one \u201cbrilliant thing\u201d to speak up when they read aloud.<\/p>\n One of the most successful interactions on opening night was the Narrator\u2019s meeting, courting and eventual marriage to fellow college student Sam, a volunteer picked by Boddie who is seated on the stage. This Sam was excellent, both likable and credible, and a character who made us believe the relationship, beginning to end.<\/p>\n Another highlight was Mrs. Patterson, the high school counselor who tries to help our distraught Narrator navigate his life with the help of an improvised sock puppet.<\/p>\n Still, Boddie is an engaging presence, and though the show sometimes seems like an extended public service announcement, Boddie at least makes it watchable.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the major philosophical takeaway to discuss over coffee, courtesy of the Narrator: If you get to the end of your life without getting crushingly depressed, you probably haven\u2019t been paying attention.<\/p>\n![\"Dark](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Cygnet_EBT_Poster.jpg\")
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The poignance of the notion that a list of \u201cbrilliant things\u201d might save a depressed person\u2019s life almost overshadows the amusement of some of the items on the list.<\/p>\n