Lenny Henry has run the dramatic gamut: from Tiswas to Comic Relief, from The Black and White Minstrel Show to Othello. His latest project is arguably the most challenging of all – a solo show about depression and suicide. It hardly sounds like a barrel of laughs. I was rather dreading it. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Duncan Macmillan’s play (written with comedian Jonny Donahoe) is full of life-enhancing humour. Every Brilliant Thing premièred in Edinburgh in 2014, where it was the big hit of the Festival Fringe. It’s since been produced all round the world, in more than 80 countries – yet this is its West End debut. ‘It seems extraordinary,’ observes Nica Burns, founder of Soho Place, the venue for this long-overdue première, ‘that it should have taken so long to come into the West End. Why? No idea. It’s a complete mystery.’ I can think...
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