Dallas Theater Center

Event Guide

Table of Contents

The Power of Being Seen

24/7 Suicide & Crisis Hotline

Program

Cast in Alphabetical Order

Creative Support & Crew

Music Credits

2023-2024 Season Sponsors

Cast Biographies

Creative Team

All Are Welcome

The Power of Being Seen

Kevin Moriarty on Every Brilliant Thing

Dear friends,

Every Brilliant Thing is the smallest play of our season. One actor, alone in a room with a small audience in an intimate setting. No massive scenery, no chorus of dancing performers, no fancy costumes (you’ll get all that in Disney’s The Little Mermaid this summer!). And yet, because of its smallness, Every Brilliant Thing is the deepest play in our season.

For one thing, the play highlights the most essential aspect of live theater: an actor and audience in a shared space, experiencing a shared story. Every Brilliant Thing strips this idea to its core. Whereas in many plays the actors onstage pretend that they don’t know the audience is present, while the audience sits in a darkened portion of the room pretending to be invisible, in Every Brilliant Thing all the lights are on and the actor interacts with the audience throughout, inviting them to participate in the story-telling. This is immersive theater, in which no one is invisible. Everyone is essential, present and connected throughout the 70-minute journey of the play.

This unique format requires immense artistry from the actor, who must faithfully perform a beautifully written text while also remaining fully present in the moment, incorporating improvisation into their performance. No two performances of Every Brilliant Thing will ever be alike, because the people involved, and the moment in which it is occurring, will always be new.

To intensify this even further, two of DTC’s most beloved actors, Diane and Hal Brierley Resident Acting Company members Blake Hackler and Tiffany Solano, are alternating performances in the role. So both the actor and the audience will change from performance to performance. Under the nuanced direction of Sally Vahle, a gifted actor who has much experience performing in non-traditional productions, portions of Blake and Tiffany’s performances are the same, whereas other elements are unique, grounded in their own individual personalities and lived experiences.

As a fan of immersive theater, this alone would cause me to love Every Brilliant Thing. But the playwright, Duncan Macmillan, isn’t just demonstrating his cleverness. Rather, he uses this dazzling exercise in form to create a complex, beautifully nuanced meditation on depression, suicide, and mental health.

At a time when the country is experiencing a mental health crisis of historic proportion, Every Brilliant Thing speaks openly about depression with poignant humor and joy, taking the audience on a journey through grief, healing, falling in love and rediscovering all that life has to give.

A conventional play about depression could be overwhelmingly dark and off-putting, but the theatricality of Every Brilliant Thing and the actor’s uniquely personalized performance counteracts this, providing a warm, safe space in which the audience is welcomed on the journey.

At its best, theater tells stories that matter, invites the audience to be fully present in a shared space, and does so with a creativity of expression that allows us to open our eyes to new ways of understanding ourselves and each other.

What may initially seem like a very small play, turns out to be very deep, indeed.

I’ll see you in the lobby.

Kevin Moriarty

Executive Director

24/7 Suicide & Crisis Hotline

If you are in crisis or have suicidal thoughts, for free and confidential emotional support 24/7, contact:
- Call 988 for the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
- Call 214-828-1000 for the local Suicide and Crisis Center of North Texas
- Text "CONNECT" to 741741
- Visit https://www.sccenter.org

Program

EVERY BRILLIANT THING
By Duncan Macmillan
with Jonny Donahoe

WITH

Blake Hackler^+*
Tiffany Solano^+*

SET DESIGN

John Slauson

COSTUME DESIGN/WIG. HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGN

Micheal Heath Willhelm-Waid

LIGHTING DESIGN

Caroline Hodge

SOUND DESIGN

Elena Martin

PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER

Stephen Ravet^*

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Ashley Oliver

DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION

Andrew J. Brown

ARTISTIC PRODUCER

Sarahbeth Grossman

DIRECTED BY
Sally Nystuen Vahle⁺

Every Brilliant Thing is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

Cast in Alphabetical Order

Performer (at alternating performances)	..........	Blake Hackler^+*
Performer (at alternating performances)	..........	Tiffany Solano^+*

Every Brilliant Thing is approximately 70 minutes. There will be no intermission

Please note there is no photography or filming of any kind allowed during the performances. Please turn off all electronic devices including cell phones. Thank you!

Creative Support & Crew

Production Assistant	..........	Laura Elaine Berrios
Stage Ops Manager	..........	Squeak Henderson
Wardrobe Supervisor	..........	Rebecca Holt
Wigs, Hair & Makeup Supervisor	..........	Nick Lynch-Voris
Light Board Operator	..........	Dalyn Kvapil

This theater operates under an agreement with Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. Dallas Theater Center is a member of the League of Resident Theaters; a constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the nonprofit professional theater; and Visit Dallas.

+ Member of Diane and Hal Brierley Resident Acting Company.
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

The Director is working under the auspices of the STAGE DIRECTOR/CHOREOGRAPHERS SOCIETY, a national theatrical labor union

The scenic, costume, lighting sound and projection designers in LORT Theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE.

Dallas Theater Center’s Production staff is responsible for the sets, costumes, lighting, props, furniture, scenic painting, sound, special effects and wigs in this production.

Music Credits

"Stormy Weather"
Performed by Etta James
Written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler
Courtesy of BMG Gold Songs & S A Music CO

"Good Times"
Performed by Sam Cooke
Written by Sam Cooke
Courtesy of ABKCO Music Inc.

"Drown in My Own Tears"
Performed by Ray Charles
Written by Henry Glover
Courtesy of Schirmer G Inc.

"Sittin’ On The Dock of the Bay"
Performed by Otis Redding
Written by Otis Redding and Steve Cropper
Courtesy of Almo Music Corporation

"My Heart Will Go On"
Performed by Celine Dion
Written by James Horner and Will Jennings
Courtesy of Sony Music Group

BLAKE’S SHOW ONLY

"Walking on Sunshine"
Performed by Katrina and the Waves
Written by Kimberly Rew
Courtesy of Kyboside Ltd.

TIFFANY’S SHOW ONLY

"I’m a Believer"
Performed by Smash Mouth
Written by Neil Diamond
Courtesy of Sony Music Group

"Some Things Last a Long Time"
Performed by Daniel Johnston
Written by Daniel Johnston and Jad Fair
Courtesy of Eternal Yip Eye Music

2023-2024 Season Sponsors

OFFICIAL VEHICLE OF DALLAS THEATER CENTER

DTC would like to thank the following people and organizations for their support on this production:
Brandi Giles, Dr. Dale Godby, Dr. Carla Pulliam, Vickie Nooe, Jeanmarie Higgins, Hailey Greene, University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance, SMU Meadows School of the Arts Division of Theatre,
Beckley Saner Recreation Center through Dallas Parks and Recreation

Cast Biographies

Creative Team

MICHEAL HEATH WILLHELM-WAID

(Costume Design/Wig, Hair & Makeup Design)

(Production Stage Manager)

ASHLEY OLIVER

(Production Manager)

ANDREW J. BROWN

(Director of Production)

SARAHBETH GROSSMAN

(Artistic Producer)

LEAH FITZGERALD

(Assistant Stage Manager)

ASHLEY OLIVER

(Production Manager)

ANDREW J. BROWN

(Director of Production)

All Are Welcome

Dallas Theater Center Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Statement

At Dallas Theater Center, we want to be the best place to work and see theater, and to be a positive and transformational force in Dallas and beyond. We stand-up for equity, diversity, and inclusion across our company and community. As a leading national theater, we recognize that building an equitable, diverse, and inclusive environment is central to our relevance and sustainability in the community we serve and love. ALL ARE WELCOME!

Dallas Theater Center Land Acknowledgement

We acknowledge the land beneath our feet as the ancestral home of many Indigenous Peoples including the Caddo, Wichita, Tawakoni, and Kiikaapoi, as well as the tribes that may have lived here and roamed the area – including Comanche, Kiowa and Apache – and those indigenous people whose names we don’t know anymore.

We honor, revere and respect those who were stewards of this land long before we made it our home. We also acknowledge the neighborhood we inhabit as one of the original Freedman’s towns of Dallas built by those who were enslaved by European colonization.

Please help us to maintain a safe and inclusive space while you are with us. DTC has a zero-tolerance policy towards harassment in any form including the use of racist, sexual or ethnic slurs - be it verbal, physical, or virtual. If you need assistance or witness an instance of harassment, please notify the House Manager immediately.