Performed by Katie Downing, with direction by Mary Beth Killian, Every Brilliant Thing, by Duncan Mcmillan, is an attempt to catalog everything worth living for. By turns funny and sad, it chronicles the narrator’s struggle to understand her mother’s repeated suicide attempts, navigate growing up, and wrestle with her own mental health. Through it all, the list grounds her in all of her reasons for living. “Number 1: Ice cream.”

We invite audience members to bring their own brilliant things. Write them on our stage. Share them with each other. Expand your list in conversation with the performers after the show.
In this dark time, brilliance is an act of rebellion. Join us.
Did you already see the production at American Shakespeare Center? You should still come to this one. Every Brilliant Thing is vastly different depending on the performer and the venue. Our Artistic Director wrote a whole thing about how much she loved ASC’s production. Ours is going to be different, though. We’d love to hear from people who end up seeing both. What did you notice?
Produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service.
Production shots
Images by Tiffany Showalter Photography



































About the creative team
MaryBeth Killian

Every Brilliant Thing is MaryBeth’s first directing project, as well as her first production at Silk Moth Stage. She earned her BS in Psychology and Theatre from Bridgewater College 2020. She has been seen acting in many Bridgewater College performances such as Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind, Almost, Maine, Men on Boats, plus more. MaryBeth is thankful for everyone at Silk Moth Stage for their excitement and their belief in this production.
Katie Downing

Every Brilliant Thing is Katie’s first performance at Silk Moth. She earned her BA in Theatre from Bridgewater College in 2020. Prior to this performance Katie was actively involved in theatre all throughout her academic career. Her experiences include acting, directing, stage managing, and playwriting.
Azalea Twining

Azalea Twining (she/her) is a sixteen year old composer, vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. As a 2020-2021 fellow of the Luna Composition Lab at Kaufman Music Center, Azalea studied composition with Ellen Reid and composed Under Her Voices for piano trio, which was the winner of the 2021 G. Schirmer for Luna Lab Prize. Azalea’s most recent and current projects include “Echo” for solo flute commissioned by Intersection, a song cycle set to the poetry of the Brontë sisters, and a saxophone quartet commissioned by Second Stage and Composers Now. She also composes and performs original work for voice, string quartet, prepared piano, and more through her school’s Fine Arts Academy. Azalea has been studying voice with Eileen Clark since 2014. An alumni of the WNO Opera Institute, Eastman Summer Classical Studies programs, and NYU MPAP Summer Classical Voice Intensive, Azalea has a passion for art song and arias. More recently, she has fostered a love for performing small vocal ensemble music- both early and experimental. She hopes to one day compose and sing in her own experimental operas.