'Every Brilliant Thing' brings different way to talk about suicide

Montana Actors’ Theatre and the Hill County Local Advisory Council Suicide Awareness Committee are bringing a different way to talk about suicide to Havre when they host Grandstreet Theatre’s production of “Every Brilliant Thing” Saturday.

The play is “A hilarious, powerful, and timely play that shines a light on all things that make life worth living,” Helena’s Grandstreet Theatre, which is holding a Montana tour of the play, said in a press release.

Suicide Awareness Committee Chair Amber Spring said the play provides a venue for people to talk about something that is hard to talk about. A panel of professionals will be available for questions and training learning opportunities will be offered.

“Suicide can be prevented,” Spring said.

“We’ve historically used the phrase ‘commit suicide,’ which relates related to ‘committing a sin’ or ‘committing a crime.’ When a person dies by suicide they are not committing a sin or a crime. Therefore, we encourage people to use the language ‘completed suicide,’ ‘died by suicide,’ ‘ended their life’ or ‘took their life’ as it omits the negative connotations of sin and crime and may allow us to talk more easily about the subject,” Spring added.

The play is about a young boy who came home from school to find out his mother is in the hospital, a release about the production said. His father tells him his mother had “done something stupid.” The boy begins making a list for his mother of all things in life that are worth living, for example, ice cream and water fights. The story follows the situation with his mother into the young boy’s adult life and features audience participation.

“Every Brilliant Thing” was written by Duncan MacMillan and Johnny Donahoe and was first published by MacMillan in 2015. This play is both nationally and internationally recognized for creating awareness of suicide and depression.

In a press release, Macmillan said “he aimed to break down the stigma surrounding mental illness by creating new ways to discuss it openly — and by making people laugh.”

Admission is free, but donations will be accepted — $5 is suggested — with all proceeds going to benefit local resources for mental health and suicide prevention.

The production starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Cowan Hall’s Little Theatre at Montana State University-Northern.

For people who cannot attend Saturday, “Every Brilliant Thing” will be available on HBO on Demand.