Terri Baier, pictured with a glove puppet that forms part of the action, narrates “Every Brilliant Thing,” which is being staged at KALA Friday and Saturday. The audience-interactive show is directed by Edward James.

Edward James has a challenge. The Astoria director is staging a play about depression. And it’s a comedy.

“Every Brilliant Thing” will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at KALA in Astoria. The one-person play delves into how a family member’s mental illness struggles affect others’ lives. It begins by highlighting how a 7-year-old girl reacts when her mother attempts suicide.

James said the character makes a list of “everything worth living for” to share with her mother as she recovers in hospital. It includes ice cream, construction cranes and “laughing so hard you shoot milk out your nose.” As the girl matures and revisits her feelings at ages 17, 27 and 37, the list expands, adding such absurdities as “Christopher Walken’s hair.”

The 2013 script was designed using an interactive monologue format by Duncan Macmillan, a British writer who wrote the play “Lungs,” a stage adaptation of Orwell’s “1984” and the TV drama series “Trigonometry” with Effie Woods.

When asked why he wrote it, he reportedly replied, “I didn’t see anyone discussing suicidal depression in a useful or interesting or accurate way.” Although he uses humor to make his point, his message is one that counselors and mental health advocates stress.

“You’re not alone, you’re not weird, you will get through it, and you’ve just got to hold on,” Macmillan told one interviewer. “That’s a very uncool, unfashionable thing for someone to say, but I really mean it.”

Terri Baier, who acts as the narrator, teaches at Jewell School. She acted in the Ten Fifteen Theater’s production of “Stupid F—ing Bird,” which James directed in April. “She was just the hardest worker,” James said.

Baier’s best friend from high school committed suicide, “So it is personal to me,” she said. “How suicide affects us all of us, and how we can help each other through hard times. Everyone has moments of deep sadness, and for friends and loved ones it’s important to be there for them.”

James said he was looking to direct a show at a venue without elaborate staging. “For most of my later theater career, I was a director and a designer. I am tired of designing and I was looking for shows that had minimal requirements for sets,” he said. “This has three chairs and boxes and book props — and KALA is a wonderful space to try something.”

Carolyn Wells, a retired medical professional and longtime Astoria-area arts supporter, came on board as co-producer to share the workload.

One element of the show will include audience participation. “The audience gets cards before the show and knows they are going to to called on,” James said. “She goes back to them at different points in the show.”

The play has been performed in London, Europe, Australia and off-Broadway with co-writer Jonny Donahoe, a stand-up comedian.

Macmillan, the play’s main author, sought to highlight the commonality of elements of depression, offering a quote used in promotions for productions: “If you live a long life and get to the end of it without once feeling depressed, you probably haven’t been paying attention.”

“Every Brilliant Thing”

KALA, 1017 Marine Drive, Astoria

7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Admission is $20

www.brownpapertickets.com