September 18 - October 5, 2019

Directed by Rebecca Greene Udden

Presented and Performed by Shannon Emerick

What's on your list of things worth living for?

Wednesdays: September 18 & 25 + October 2 at 7:30pm

Saturdays: September 21 + October 5 at 3:00pm

Sundays: September 22 & 29 at 7:30pm

Please see the list of post-show discussions below.


All performances are held at Main Street Theater - Rice Village, 2540 Times Blvd.

Every Brilliant Thing is an honest, resilient, sometimes sad, often funny, hopeful, and joyful look at life and the lengths we will go for those we love. This is the story of a person who's reliving pieces of her life relating to her mother's death - and how she herself has sought out everything worth living for...

Please note: the plays deals with the suicide of a parent, having to put a beloved pet down, and how tough it can be to be human sometimes. But one of the many things I love about this play is that it's not melodramatic or non-stop intensity. Lightness, humor, and joy are peppered throughout. To me, it's a little bit of Grace as we explore some hard things together. We are not in this life alone. And joy can be anywhere.

I hope you'll join me.

--Shannon Emerick

Post-Show Discussions:

  • Opening Night, Wednesday, September 18: EBT artists Shannon Emerick and Rebecca Udden along with Jason Nodler, John Dunn, and Kyle Sturdivant from Catastrophic Theatre's Speeding Motorcycle, and Dain Geist and Callina Anderson from the Houston Equity Festival 2019 production of The Effect discuss what it's like as an artist to work on plays involving mental illness.
  • Wednesday, September 25: Discussion with WyKisha McKinney, Advocate for Suicide Care, Board Chair of AFSP-Southeast Texas (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention), and Social Entrepreneur.
  • Wednesday night, October 2: Discussion with Dr. Susan Pollard, licensed psychologist in practice for 28 years, member of the Texas Psychological Association, the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, and The National Register of Health Service Providers.
  • Saturday afternoon, October 5: Discussion with Angelina Hudson, Program Director for NAMI Greater Houston (National Alliance on Mental Illness).

Production Partners

Shannon Emerick is a native Texan and a professional actor whose career spans 24 years to date. She spent 6 years based in New York, and during that time, she performed Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway. Ms. Emerick has worked professionally across the country at theaters in Maine, Tennessee, Illinois, and Florida. In Houston she has performed at Main Street Theater, Classical Theatre Company, and Stages Repertory Theatre along with ongoing film and voiceover work (including 79 roles in over 79 Anime titles). Ms. Emerick won the Houston Press Best Actress Award in both 2006 and 2011. She has been a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association since 1998. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University. She is also the proud mother to her 13 year old son, Rowan, who designed the EBT artwork.

This is a production of the Houston Equity Festival, produced and presented by Shannon Emerick.

Questions? ebtshannonemerick2019@gmail.com

Support this production with a donation through GoFundMe. Anything raised above the goal helps pay for additional production expenses and is greatly appreciated.