Theater Review: Bawat Bonggang Bagay Shines For Pride Month
The mental health play that did it right is back for a limited run, just in time for pride month.
Bawat Bonggang Bagay is award-winning playwright Guelan Luarca’s Filipino adaptation of Every Brilliant Thing, written by Duncan MacMillan and Johnny Donahoe. The English play debuted in the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe and became a global phenomenon, thanks to its unique format and sensitive approach to mental health.
In the Philippines, Every Brilliant Thing (EBT) was first staged by The Sandbox Collective in 2019, with model-artist Teresa Herrera and award-winning actress Kakki Teodoro as alternating leads. In 2023, the Filipino adaptation was launched at The Sandbox Fest. On Bawat Bonggang Bagay's (BBB) helm was Jon Santos, one of the queer luminaries of the Philippine entertainment industry.
Jon Santos in 'Bawat Bonggang Bagay'
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Bawat Bonggang Bagay, Where No Two Shows Are Ever Alike
This 90-minute, one-person, interactive play follows the flashbacks of an unnamed narrator, starting with his childhood following his mother’s first suicide attempt. The child, with all his innocence and limited knowledge of the world, decides to embark on a mission: to help keep his mother alive by giving her a list of brilliant things worth living for. The list grows and so does the child, who eventually goes off to college and even falls in love—all while navigating his mother’s mental health struggles.
The fourth wall is broken before the show even begins, as the narrator candidly interacts with the audience members as they arrive and settle into their seats. It’s a prelude of what’s to come—that audience participation is highly encouraged (though not forced, as you may politely decline). Pieces of paper are handed out to eager members of the audience, who will be guided and cued accordingly as the play goes along. Some are even plucked out of the crowd and given more active “roles” to help with the flashbacks.
No two shows are ever alike.
From Brilliant to Bongga
The play is written in such a way that both the directors and performers can tweak certain elements to suit their own cultural context, which is exactly what the team behind BBB did. Jon Santos’ version caters to the Filipino audience with heartwarming LGBTQIA+ representation. The flashback starts in the late 1970s, accompanied by a vinyl record soundtrack of the yesteryears (curated by sound designer Arvy Dimaculangan), oodles of Pinoy pop culture references, and thanks to Mark Dalacat’s intimate set design, a treasure trove of vintage memorabilia.
It’s almost an ode to those throwback decades, and if you’ve been a fan of Santos’ work in TV, film, and stage since that era, you will see his impeccable improv skills and signature comedy style shining throughout the play. Batang ’70s and ’80s will love the nostalgic trip. As for the younger audience, don’t worry; Santos is a master of crowd work and adjusts his impromptu jokes accordingly, making sure no generation is left out.
Doing Mental Health Right
If you’ve seen Teodoro and/or Herrera’s EBT versions before BBB, then you’ve had the honor of seeing the play closest to its original form, where understanding mental health is the core.
As a mental health advocate and survivor of clinical depression and suicide loss, I cried buckets the first time I watched Teodoro’s 2023 version of EBT, directed by Jenny Jamora.
I’ve gotten so used to Hollywood romanticizing and sensationalizing depression that I had the lowest of expectations from this play. Looking at the colorful poster and cheery character, I did not think it would end up being the most moving, sensitively done mental health play I’ve ever watched—even more than other award-winning musicals.
While BBB is also directed by Jamora, this 2025 version has a different feel. There was extra attention given to the throwback Pinoy pop culture aspect, making it share the spotlight with mental health. This year’s direction no longer feels as heavy and painful as the previous stagings.
But as with any version of EBT or BBB, the play starts with the same hook. It makes you cynical with its cutesy, whimsical premise, and then peels off layers to reveal the looming darkness. At the center is a naïve child who wants to understand depression and thinks it’s his job to make his mother happy. There are poignant characters in between—a father caring for a depressed spouse while raising a child, a guidance counselor who inadvertently becomes the lifeline in a child’s life, a first love that sees you when you’re trying to be invisible, a beloved dog that teaches you about death, and more.
As the child grows up trying to understand depressed and suicidal people, he also enlightens the audience—through statistics, books, and other educational materials seamlessly sewn into the dialogue. There’s no typecast emo or violent character that TV and movies misconstrue them to be—just relatable people with real struggles.
As the child blurts out his anger, confusion, and raw questions about suicide, it disarms you. Instead of belittling or blocking these thoughts about mental health, the way a stigmatizing society wants us to—it allows us to confront them. The intimate stage transforms into a safe space—a support system to process mental health.
Beyond the comedy eliciting belly laughs and the pieces of paper spewing snippets of happiness, the play discusses depression and suicide in an authentic manner that mental health advocates like myself can only hope for in the entertainment industry. It’s life-affirming, but not in a toxic positive way.
You may find yourself choking back tears in certain scenes, and that should be okay. As Duncan Macmillan writes, “If you live a long life and get to the end of it without ever once having felt crushingly depressed, then you probably haven’t been paying attention.”
Bawat Bonggang Bagay runs until June 22, 2025, at the Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater in Circuit Makati. Tickets range from P1,595 to P2,128 and are available via The Sandbox Collective and Ticketworld.
