Windy City Playhouse EVERY BRILLIANT THING Spotlight

Editor’s Note: Read the related story—“ Windy City Playhouse EVERY BRILLIANT THING Review – Wonderful and Life Affirming”

Every Brilliant Thing is not only a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BEST PLAY PICK, but also one of those theater experiences that might be life-changing for audience members and for its cast and creative team too. The lead role in this interactive production, The Narrator, is being played by Rebecca Spence, who describes Every Brilliant Thing as “about struggle and resilience and looking for gifts in both the extraordinary and the mundane. It is a call to keep putting one foot in front of the other and to know that sometimes that motion can be called dancing.” Here, Picture this Post (PTP) asks Rebecca Spence (RS) to tell us more about how this production and her role in it came about – and more about what this work means to her personally and professionally.

(PTP) When did you first read this book and/or play?

(RS) I received an email from director Jessica Fisch in early January asking to meet up for coffee to discuss partnering for ‘a unique project’. She sent the script to me then.

What was your initial reaction to the book/play and how has this evolved as you have worked with the story?

I had an immediate visceral reaction to reading Every Brilliant Thing - I thought it was just beautiful, but honestly, I had a difficult time visualizing the audience agreeing to partner with The Narrator in the storytelling. I couldn’t imagine anyone being willing to do the things I’d be asking them to do, because it is the rarest of individuals who actually enjoys audience participation.

I didn’t know there was a filmed version of the play until I started doing research - I wanted to see if reviews of other productions mentioned how audiences were reacting. It was then that I found the HBO documentary, and I watched it for that reason - to wrap my head around the reception of the story. I saw how (if told carefully and guided with trust) the audience is all in…..and that enthusiasm and generosity prompted me to say yes to the project.

How do you anticipate the gender of the narrator will impact the audience experience and how do you feel your role in woman-centered Rivendell affects a special sensibility you bring to this role?

I am not the first woman to narrate this story, but am one of a few. Thankfully, the playwright is very clear on the openness of casting, and I’m grateful that there are theaters exercising those liberties - I’m also happy to see that there has been at least one woman of color given this opportunity. I’d really like to see that production.

I am a proud Rivendell Ensemble member, and our focus to tell stories from the woman’s lens (now in our 25th season!) and to share the nuances of varied women’s stories is an important and thrilling part of being in this theatre community. For this Windy City Playhouse production, Jessica and I were excited to share this particular story from the female experience.

I think there is a common misconception that all women are naturally social, in touch with their own feelings and can express them liberally and work them out easily with one another. This Narrator is not one of those women; we meet her after she has done a lot of work to be able to speak to an audience, and that was really interesting to us.

Are there other aspects of your personal story that you draw upon when performing this work?

I know this Narrator very well. As the daughter of a clinically depressed parent, I know well the eager, childlike attempts made to try to fix someone you love and need desperately. I also know the pain of losing a family member to mental illness and the helplessness and blame that feels inevitable. It is important to me that this story is told by someone who really understands and acknowledges/celebrates the efforts we make to keep going and to check in on loved ones (and on ourselves) who aren’t doing so well.

How did you come to be cast in this play?

I think that may be a better question for the director... Jessica and I have worked together before, and we approach text and storytelling in a very similar way. We have a beautiful shorthand, and I think given that our rehearsal process was so minimal, knowing that we would both show up on day one with so many thoughts aligned may have had something to do with it? She also said I’m really friendly, which is important in making people feel comfortable to participate, so maybe that helped?

Have you been in other performances that are interactive with the audience as this is?

I’ve not done anything like this before. And to be honest, I was never the actor that enjoyed direct address...and that has changed for me. Now that the panic of knowing all those lines, and the realization that ‘if it tanks, it’s all on me’ has worn off, I am beginning to receive the gift of this show as much as I hope that I’m giving it. Every night is a new opportunity to learn from the guests in the room; I get to actually see the impact that this opportunity has on the audience, and it impacts me as well - it’s becoming therapeutic.

What do you most hope audiences will get out of this production and your performance?

Hmmm... well I think I have a macro and micro answer for this one. Macro: I think we are in an important moment of history where a veil is being lifted, exposing things that have always been there that we’ve refused to acknowledge. And as a result, there’s a lot of renewed anger and sorrow and culpability and guilt. It’s overwhelming. Depression/Anxiety are tricky savages in that they are both by-products of chemical imbalances within the body and are also by-products of our environment. My hope with this play is that we acknowledge that none of us are immune to these feelings, and we should probably be paying attention to that. And we need to be paying attention to others around us. And if we’re really, really paying attention, the world is also filled with gifts/surprises/wonders that can help buoy us when we’re sinking. Searching for those gifts isn’t a sign of weakness: it’s radical, and it’s a sign of strength.

Micro: I hope the audience knows that they can trust me. I’m never going to make them look stupid, or leave them hanging. We’re all here together to weave this beautiful story, and I’ve got their backs.

Windy City Playhouse EVERY BRILLIANT THING Spotlight – Interview with Lead Actress Rebecca Spence

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