STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK

PHOTOS BY YANNA LANTZ

“Every Brilliant Thing,” which is taking the stage at The Spot through today, makes life worth living. Not so much because of the play itself but because of the community it creates.

The one-man play by Duncan MacMillan and Jonny Donahoe features Brett Moellenberg as a young boy who begins devising a list of things that make life worth living in hopes they will brighten the world of his mother, who is fighting depression and has attempted suicide.

Moellenberg plays the role with gentle humor and compassion. But it’s the interjection of dozens of audience members—only a couple of whom are equity artists—that make the play come alive.

Audience members help supply the things that make life worth living from “People falling over” to “Bubble wrap” and “Having dessert before dinner.” And some—most notably, the lady performing the sock puppet psychiatrist—add their personal comic touch to the entire thing.

The play will open your eyes to the world around you and leave you thinking of your own list of brilliant things on the way home.

…Red aspen leaves among the yellow

….The vivid white of the first snowfall on the mountains surrounding Sun Valley

….The quietness of slack after a busy summer….

You still have one chance to catch the play—at 7 tonight—Sunday, Nov. 3. Tickets are available at https://ci.ovationtix.com/35975/production/1216152. Tammy Davis of The Crisis Hotline will offer a talkback after tonight’s show.