“Everyone hears voices. I’m treated like I’m broken for admitting it.”

Can a weekend trip to visit family ever be smooth?

Nick was hoping for a quick dinner at his brother Reid’s house when he stopped by with his seventeen-year-old adopted son, Gerome, on their way to meet Gerome’s birth mother. Gerome was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia, and he wants to know more about his family history. Though Reid and his family wreak havoc with their well-meaning but misguided ideas about Gerome’s diagnosis, they manage to convince Nick and his son to stay the night, even after they find Gerome on the roof ready to demonstrate backflips. The dinner pit stop becomes a tense weekend-long event full of claims and questions as the family attempts to “un-crazy” Gerome, leading them all to a dangerous breaking point.

With truth, humour, and pathos, Quick Bright Things explores a family’s struggle with understanding mental health, their ways of expressing love, and what it ultimately means to be “okay.”

Christina Cook (she/they) is a theatre artist and therapist. Christina’s writing credits include the play Quick Bright Things, which was nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award in 2021. As a therapist in private practice, she specializes in working with adult and youth 2SLGBTQIA+ community members. Christina is also a Ph.D. student in Counselling Psychology at the University of British Columbia, creating and exploring scholarship on trans studies, therapy, and theatre.

Christina Cook's profile page

• Nominated, Governor General's Literary Award

“Funny and disturbing.”

Cam Fuller, Saskatoon StarPhoenix