Thom Pain (based on nothing)
Starring Michael C. Hall
Written by Will Eno
Directed by Oliver Butler
Signature Theatre
November 24, 2018
Production website
💉💉💉💉 out of 5.

Watching Thom Paine (based on nothing), with Michael C. Hall is a 70 minute romp round the existential racetrack that feels very much like Beckett brought back to life.  In fact, as I was sitting there, I began to see this play and imagining what it would be like to have seen Waiting for Godot– now told in the 21st century and now played out after the death of Estragon.  What would Godot be like after the death of one member of its infamous couple?  How would Vladimire hold forth on a world when there was no one to verbally spar with him?  Can you imagine the pain of all those jokes and pondering landing on ears that were no longer there to answer.  Existential on steroids for sure . . .

Thom Paine is a most modern slice of Existentialist grist.  So little can be uncovered here in the way of story.  We know that he was a young boy with many troubles, including an electrocuted dog – and we know that he once fell in love with a woman that must have gone wrong in a hundred different ways – but that is about it.  Most of the 70 minutes is spent trying to make sense of the very idea of being alive and being in front of an audience without a plan.  So much of the power in the play comes from it s negative reflective thinking – “I love magic.  No I don’t.  Really what is magic?  I’ve lost interest in magic.  I’ve lost track of thinking.”  “I’m happy to see you.  No, that’s a lie.  I felt I had to say that.  Who cares if I like you or not.  You’ve done so little for me.  No, that’s cruel.  Maybe.”

Thom Paine wanders around a big unadorned backstage looking and moving and exploring and untimely doing nothing but passing time with us.  Near the end, the audience is caught on edge as he considers bring an audience member on stage.  But even that plan crumbles in front of us – until he does legitimately bring an audience member on stage – only to forget him as he lingers on stage like we have done the entire 70 minutes.  But don’t get me wrong.  I love this.  This is theatre at its most simple and most potent.  

To coin up the experience of Thom Pain, I offer two of my favorite lines from Godot that summarize the experience of watching Tom Paine, (based on nothing).

“Nothing happens. Nobody comes, nobody goes. It’s awful.

“That’s how it is on this bitch of an earth.”