Nine performances, using improv, audience interaction and comedy, tell one person’s story of growing up with a mother who has suicidal depression.

Playing the father in an awkward scene in the family car is audience member and senior chief Jean Bissainthe, alongside Candunn Jennette in her performance of “Every Brilliant Thing” on Oct. 25 at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads.

Ice cream. Sunlight. Old people holding hands. Bubble wrap. Friendly cats. Track seven on every great record.

Those are just a few of the million brilliant things in life that the Virginia Stage Company reminded sailors to count during a Wednesday performance at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads in Norfolk.

“I have some advice for anyone who’s been contemplating suicide,” said Candunn Jennette, the Virginia Stage performer who narrated the show. “Don’t do it. Things get better. It may not always get brilliant, but they do get better.”

Candunn Jennette, with the Virginia Stage Company, talks passionately about her special list during her performance of “Every Brilliant Thing” on Wednesday, October 25, 2023, at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads. (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot)

Roughly 50 sailors attended the one-hour, one-person performance of “Every Brilliant Thing,” which tells one person’s story of growing up with a mother who has suicidal depression.

The show, which uses improv, audience interaction and comedy, was the first of eight taking place at Hampton Roads military installations over the next month. The performances offer the Navy a fresh approach to conversations about mental wellness as the service undertakes a massive effort to change the way it treats sailors experiencing mental health crises.

“This is a piece that is meant to be the beginning of a conversation, not the end of it,” said Tom Quaintance, producing artistic director for the VSC.

*Candunn Jennette speaks as a child to a therapist’s sock puppet named Rusty during her performance of “Every Brilliant Thing.” (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot)*

Virginia Stage Company began looking at small cast shows on the heels of the pandemic. When Quaintance read the script, he was immediately struck by the way the play tackles some of life’s most difficult topics — depression, suicide and loss — in a warm and accessible way. He had lost a sister to suicide.

“This show, while it takes you to some tough places, it doesn’t leave you there,” Quaintance said.

The play was first performed at the Wells Theatre a year and a half ago. As mental health crises became more prevalent during pandemic-related isolation, Quaintance said the theater company had the idea to bring the show to the military community.

“We can go in, start a conversation and, we hope, make a difference in how people think and talk about mental health and suicide,” Quaintance said.

“Every Brilliant Thing” was performed three times aboard the USS George H.W. Bush in June. The series will be performed at Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command, Naval Station Norfolk, Naval Air Station Oceana and Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek throughout November.

*Candunn Jennette reads through the notes she jotted down while growing up as the narrator in “Every Brilliant Thing.” (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot)*

Throughout the play, the performer narrates her perspective of her mother’s struggles with suicidal depression. The perspective evolves and deepens as the narrator ages from 7 years old to her mid-30s and experiences her own accomplishments, love, loss and mental health struggles. But each time, the narrator returns to a list she is creating of every brilliant thing about life, adding new brilliant things.

Water fights. Really good oranges. Wearing a cape. Peeing in the ocean and nobody knows. The list goes on.

Jamie Sosaya, a boatswain’s mate master chief, called the show “phenomenal” and said it was the best suicide prevention workshop she has been part of in her 23-year naval career.

“It hits home,” Sosaya said after the show, with tears in her eyes.

Part of what made it so successful, Lt. Cmdr. Katie Erwin said, is the audience interaction. Previous workshops used PowerPoint presentations or seminar formats, she said, but with “Every Brilliant Thing,” members of the audience are pre-selected to act as a veterinarian, the narrator’s father, husband and guidance counselor. Those selected are guided through improvised dialogue.

*Actor Candunn Jennette circles the room to high-five every audience member during “Every Brilliant Thing.” (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot)*

Erwin was chosen to act as the narrator’s guidance counselor.

“It was very heartfelt and it could relate to a lot of different people on a lot of different levels,” Erwin said. “Suicide is a tough subject to broach, but it was a lighthearted conversation and presentation.”

Quartermaster First Class Jarien Marquez said the show opens the door for conversations about mental health, whether sailor to sailor or friend to friend.

“People feel like there isn’t room for people to have that conversation, but this teaches everybody how to start the conversation and how to use the resources we have to help in those situations,” Marquez said.

*After her performance of “Every Brilliant Thing,” Candunn Jennette hugs audience member Jean Bissainthe, a senior chief who played the role of her father. (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot)*

The sailors also took home personal lessons for their mental wellness. The biggest one, Marquez said, is to remember to count the small things in life.

“A whole bunch of little things can make up one really big thing,” Marquez said. “So if you can count the little things, the little blessings in life, it will help you realize it’s going to be all right.”

Resources for service members and veterans struggling with mental health issues, including 24-hour crisis hotlines, include:

The Military Crisis Line: call 988, Ext. 1
Military OneSource: 800-342-9647
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 — call or text

Article by Caitlyn Burchett, caitlyn.burchett@virginiamedia.com

Tickets: The performances at local military installations are open to base personnel. The performances at Eastern Virginia Medical School and the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk are open to the general public. Those are free to attend, courtesy of a Sentara Health sponsorship, but registration is requested.

Details: To register or for more information, visit the “Every Brilliant Thing” tour page at vastage.org/ebttour. Additional performance dates and locations will be posted to the website. Those interested in booking the tour to come to their location can email ebt@vastage.org.