''Thom Pain (based on nothing)'' is a 2004

one man show A solo performance, sometimes referred to as a one-man show or one-woman show, features a single person telling a story for an audience, typically for the purpose of entertainment. This type of performance comes in many varieties, including auto ...

written by

Will Eno Will Eno (born 1965) is an American playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. His play, '' Thom Pain (based on nothing)'' was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 2005. His play ''The Realistic Joneses'' appeared on Broadway in 2014, wher ...

. It is a rambling

monologue In theatre, a monologue (from el, μονόλογος, from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes a ...

in which the protagonist, who has suffered a lot in his life, tells the story of a bee sting, a boy with a dog that died, and his experience with a woman.

Production history

The play started as a reading at the

Soho Theatre The Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, in London, England. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three performance spaces. The the ...

and was then performed at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

in 2004. The play next opened in London at the Soho Theatre, running from 3 to 24 September 2004. It received the First

Fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts * Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, known as "the Fringe" * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * The Fringe, the ...

Award. ''Thom Pain (based on nothing)'' premiered in the United States

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

at the DR2 Theatre on February 1, 2005 and closed on September 4, 2005. The original production starred

James Urbaniak James Christian Urbaniak (born September 17, 1963) is an American character actor. He is best known for his roles as Simon Grim in three Hal Hartley films: ''Henry Fool'' (1997), ''Fay Grim'' (2006) and ''Ned Rifle'' (2014), Robert Crumb in ''Ame ...

, and was directed by Hal Brooks. Urbaniak was nominated for the

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

for Outstanding Solo Performance for his portrayal of Thom Pain. The play was revived at the Off-Broadway

Signature Theatre Company Signature Theatre Company is an American theatre based in Manhattan, New York. It was founded in 1991 by James Houghton and is now led by Artistic Director Paige Evans. Signature is known for their season-long focus on one artist's work. It has be ...

on October 23, 2018 (previews), starring

Michael C. Hall Michael Carlyle Hall (born February 1, 1971) is an American actor and singer best known for his roles as Dexter Morgan, the titular character in the Showtime series ''Dexter,'' and David Fisher in the HBO drama series '' Six Feet Under.'' Thes ...

and directed by Oliver Butler. The play has been translated into over a dozen languages, and since 2005 has been produced regularly around the U.S. and the world. Some notable American productions have been presented at Seattle Rep, the Dallas Theater Center, Theatre Wit, Hyde Park Theatre, Actor's Express, among many more. Worldwide the play has appeared in Finland, France, Israel, Holland, Norway, Portugal, China, Mexico, Germany and elsewhere. The play was a finalist for the 2005

Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...

, which was won by ''Doubt, A Parable'' by

John Patrick Shanley John Patrick Shanley (born October 13, 1950) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director. He won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film ''Moonstruck''. His play, '' Doubt: A Parable'', won the 2005 Pulitzer P ...

Critical reception

The play received enthusiastic reviews. The ''Theatre Journal'' wrote: "Why did this production receive some of the strongest reviews of the season and a twice-extended run in the heart of New York City? The production aesthetics seem to work against popularity." David Gritten of the ''Telegraph '' wrote, "It's hard to imagine more dazzling writing on any stage in Edinburgh this year." Charles Isherwood, in his review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote: "It's one of those treasured nights in the theater - treasured nights anywhere, for that matter - that can leave you both breathless with exhilaration and, depending on your sensitivity to meditations on the bleak and beautiful mysteries of human experience, in a puddle of tears. Also in stitches, here and there. Speechless, in any case." The Theatremania.com critic wrote:

At its conclusion, audience members may not know exactly what they just saw or what it was supposed to mean. Is Thom Pain a meditation on disappointment? An exercise in futility? Perhaps both. One thing is certain, however. Even if the piece is based on nothing, as its subtitle proclaims, its unconventional style makes it far more interesting than many other plays that are currently on the boards.

Ten years after the original production, Lyn Gardner of the Guardian wrote, "it's still one of the best monologues I've ever seen".

References

{{Reflist

External links

Website for the 2005 American Premiere at DR2 TheatreScript, ''Thom Pain'', Oberon Books, Oct 1, 2004 (excerpt)Listing at darylroththeatre.com
2005 plays Off-Broadway plays Plays for one performer Monodrama