One Actor, Many Little Joys: Bringing Every Brilliant Thing to Colombo

There is a profound beauty in seeing the world through the unfiltered lens of a child. Before life becomes complicated by adulthood, joy is wonderfully simple. Joy is a water fight. Joy is staying up past your bedtime. And, coming in at number one on a very important list, joy is ice cream.

These simple wonders form the beating heart of Every Brilliant Thing, the acclaimed play by Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe, which will be showing at Kamatha Studio, BMICH, Colombo, from 05 to 08 November 2026. Brought to Colombo by The Peterite Arts Foundation (PAF) and directed by Theruni Indrapala, this heartwarming, immersive production stars Sri Lankan actor Mario de Soyza in a role unlike anything he has tackled before.

For more than twenty years, de Soyza has been a well-known and energetic figure on the Colombo stage. He’s played major roles in both dramas and musicals, including Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire, Juan Perón in Evita, Bruce Bechdel in Fun Home, and many characters in I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. But in Every Brilliant Thing, there’s no ensemble, no elaborate sets, and no barrier between actor and audience.

"The primary draw for taking on this project was the sheer quality of the writing," de Soyza explains. "As a performer heavily experienced in musical theater, this play offers a unique opportunity to step away from musicals and tackle something completely different."

What Macmillan has written is a deceptively simple premise that requires a staggering amount of emotional intelligence from its lone actor. The story follows a narrator who, at seven, begins a list of every wonderful thing in life in a desperate attempt to cheer up their chronically depressed mother. Over a lifetime, that list swells to over a million items, anchoring the narrator through adulthood.

This story has no traditional cast. Instead, the performer and the audience create the evening together. The audience is asked to read items from the list aloud, or even step into the shoes of different characters from his life. "It presents the formidable, slightly scary, but deeply exciting challenge of being a solo actor tasked with holding an audience’s attention for an hour," says de Soyza. "The interactive nature of the play introduces a thrilling sense of fluidity and uncertainty to the performance."

The journey to the Colombo stage began when director Theruni Indrapala shared the script with de Soyza and expressed her vision for his casting. It found a natural producing partner in The Peterite Arts Foundation. de Soyza's own relationship with theater began at St. Peter’s College, making this a beautiful homecoming. Following PAF's debut 2024 production of Ray Cooney's Caught in the Net. This second production reflects the Foundation's dedication to staging plays that truly matter right now. Today’s youth carry an incredibly heavy emotional burden, facing pressures and anxieties that can often feel overwhelming. This play serves as a safe space to talk about those very real, modern-day struggles with empathy and hope

For Mario de Soyza, this solo performance is deeply personal. "It represents a major full-circle moment," he shares. "It is a direct tribute to the directors and practitioners who have shaped my journey over the years." He credits mentors like Tracy Holsinger, Jerome De Silva, Surein De Silva Wijeyaratne, Jehan Aloysius, Jehan Bastians, Michael de Soyza, Sashane Perera, Uncle Jith Pieris (1947-1026), and Indu Dharmasena for paving the way to this defining role.

While the play tackles the heavy theme of mental health and proudly partners with World Vision Lanka to support their Every Mind Matters youth initiative, its core message is remarkably uplifting. As original star Jonny Donahoe once said, "There is great tragedy in the story... but our message is very simple: don’t ever give up."

This play invites us to listen, take part, and remember that sometimes, something as simple as ice cream can make all the difference. Every Brilliant Thing will be performed in Colombo from November 05th to the 08, 2026. For tickets or more information, visit peterite.arts.