Daniel Radcliffe Returns to Broadway, Exploring Depression While Celebrating Life in ‘Every Brilliant Thing’

Movie stars pop up on Broadway all the time. But how many can you picture running through a theater for a good half hour before curtain time, personally engaging ordinary folks in the audience, without seeming completely disingenuous?It’s a pretty short list, but happily, Daniel Radcliffe, who has returned to the New York stage in this capacity in an interactive piece called “Every Brilliant Thing,” belongs there.The English actor, who rose to fame — in case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past 25 years — playing Harry Potter in the massively popular film franchise, has acquitted himself quite nicely as a trouper here, in shows ranging from a revival of the harrowing drama “Equus” to, most recently, a celebrated production of the musical “Merrily We Roll Along,” which earned him a Tony Award as featured actor.In “Every Brilliant Thing,” which has been produced in more than 60 countries, including ours — this staging marks its Broadway premiere — Mr. Radcliffe is technically the only cast member, at least the only one on the payroll. At each performance, audience members, a bunch of whom are seated onstage, are enlisted to read lines off pieces of paper and, in several cases, play roles, including a father, a guidance counselor, and a love interest — all of them connected to Mr. Radcliffe’s character, who is unnamed.Another person who looms large in the play, though we never meet her, is this central character’s mother, whose repeated attempts at suicide indelibly shape his life. The play’s title refers to a list he begins compiling as a kid, of things that make life worth living: ice cream, water fights, roller coasters, “the way Ray Charles sings the word ‘you.’”The purpose of the list, which eventually stretches into tens and hundreds of thousands, incorporating more sophisticated pleasures as he matures, is ostensibly to lift his mom’s spirits. But as that effort fails again and again, our protagonist seems to realize the therapeutic potential it holds for him, even as he gradually comes to terms with the troubling legacy of his mother’s depression.I’ll confess I’m probably not the target audience for this stuff, being skeptical of any project that has even a whiff of self-help about it. But Duncan Macmillan, who wrote the one-act piece with Jonny Donahue and has co-directed this production with Jeremy Herrin — Mr. Donahue first performed it in 2013 — keeps things short (about 70 minutes) and sweet, so that it never feels like some self-styled guru is lecturing us.Mr. Radcliffe is a huge asset, of course: While I’ve never seen “Thing” in any of its previous incarnations, I can’t imagine a more charming, accessible player for these purposes. Since the script dutifully specifies that the play “can be performed by a person of any age, socio-economic background, ethnicity, sexuality, or gender identity,” that’s saying something.I’ll also admit that I was moved, after seeing a preview, to buy an ice cream cone and to listen to a couple of Ray Charles recordings. I can report that both brought me substantial joy. I’ll have to get back to you on the roller coasters.

Daniel Radcliffe Returns to Broadway, Exploring Depression While Celebrating Life in ‘Every Brilliant Thing’

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