Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...One last thought. How smart of the Windy City Playhouse to snag the rights to this piece, and how strange that the city's big houses presumably passed. It is a show that offers so much to an audience: it does not feel like your are being asked to spend your money to hear a playwright saying, look, these are my issues and this is my reality (which is much of what I review), but, instead, it says to the audience, take a look at all the stuff you worry about and instead appreciate the pleasures of being alive. And of your fellow travelers."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...What may sound like a mawkish premise somehow becomes, in the redistribution of its telling, an impressively collective story. The more Spence and Macmillan bring the audience into the recounting - while simultaneously leaving us out of the scariest parts of improvisation - the more we're charmed by the endeavor as a whole. If we were keeping a list like the one this show's protagonist does, "Every Brilliant Thing" would earn a spot."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Spence, under Jessica Fisch's direction, reinvents Macmillan's British man into an American woman—one whose fear of turning out to be too much like her mother both motivates and stymies her interactions with others. But when it comes to making us all feel welcome and valued, this show is, well, brilliant."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...This was my first time going to WINDY CITY PLAYHOUSE SOUTH, which is in the Motor Row area of south Michigan Ave, and I must admit it was a total surprise. The south loop area around McCormick Place has been completely renovated., and I liked that parking was easy compared to some new renovated areas of Chicago. And the renovations done for the Windy City Playhouse were modern, and very comfortable compared to other black box theatres. The loft is there newest addition, comfortable leather swivel seats because this is “Immersion Theatre”, where you the audience participate in all aspects of the play."
WTTW - Highly Recommended
"...Windy City artistic director Amy Rubenstein said she relentlessly pursued the rights to this play for two years. I don't know if she had Spence in mind from the start, but the role fits her like a sock puppet glove. And by the time you leave the theater it's a good bet she will have you crafting your own list of brilliant things."
Buzznews.net - Highly Recommended
"...Despite the dynamically constructed script, Every Brilliant Thing manages to have a dramatic arc, and a poignant storyline with touching moments, and a bottom line. "It occurred to be how much the list changed how I see the world," says the Narrator along the way."
The Hawk Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Finding happiness is a complex process for many, and Every Brilliant Thing does not shy away from exploring these complications or diving deep into its subject matter. But at its core, the play challenges and invites us to work toward healthy states of mind by finding joy, even if its only in the little things. Transformative experiences are rare; don’t miss this one."
Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended
"...Director Jessica Fisch keeps this one-woman show alive and varied as Spence, running a gamut of emotional experiences, performs in several memory spaces scattered throughout the room representing such places as the kitchen in her childhood home, her father's study, etc. Music plays an enormous role in her memories (and, let's face it, that one category alone could account for thousands of entries on the list), as do books. So does lack of real communication, and there is a powerful moment similar to one in the musical Fun Home in which daughter and father, who have a real and critical need for conversation, sit in silence in a car. "
Picture This Post - Highly Recommended
"...EVERY BRILLIANT THING touches on life’s ups and downs, but calls upon us to remember those moments and things that make life worth living. It would be a good fit for anyone who likes personal stories and a bit of good interactive theater."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...A one-woman show. A six-year-old’s solution to adult problems. A list of things that make life brilliant, in order to counteract her mother’s suicide attempt. A list on that show (and life in general, as others can always influence a brilliant things list)..."
