Canberra Reviews

The Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Thom Pain (based on nothing) deserves to be packed out for the entirety of its two-week Canberra run. Granted a one-man, one-act, stream of consciousness monologue isn’t for everyone, but if you enjoy thoughtful theatre that’s masterfully written and beautifully acted, hurry up and book yourself a seat.

Will Eno’s Pulitzer-nominated play must be a marathon for any actor. To pull it off, Thom Pain’s ramblings have to seem spontaneous and lapses in memory or delivery are never an option. Along with these challenges, a connection with the audience must be maintained as Thom wanders from wry everyday observations to unflinching reflections on love and loss. Despite these formidable hurdles, Neil Pigot didn’t even seem to break a sweat as he brought Thom Pain so convincingly to life.

As his character wrestles with dark memories and meaninglessness, Pigot’s connection with Thom Pain is absolute – there’s simply no sign of any acting work going on in the background. His performance fascinates from the first line, keeping the audience enveloped in Thom’s world until he’s said all he has to say. In fact, suspension of disbelief is so easy that the play often feels much more like a dream sequence than a soliloquy on an all-but deserted stage.

Of course, the success of Thom Pain isn’t all down to the man in the spotlight. Director Julian Meyrick has clearly worked long hours with Pigot to balance Thom’s light and dark moments and to bring out the many shades of emotion in between. There’s no denying the beauty of Eno’s script either, which remains poetic even as it deals with the mundane and the tragic, replete with lines that echo long after the lights have come up.

Needless to say, there’s plenty of opportunity for uncomfortable self-reflection as Thom brings us ‘face to face with the modern mind.’ But Thom Pain is so much more than an exercise in theatrical anguish. The Melbourne Theatre Company’s production captures all the humour, subtlety and weather-beaten wisdom that makes this play uniquely moving.

Pigot took his bows to sustained applause, but there was one member of the spellbound audience who may have been watching Thom Pain in a very particular light. Finding a night off from the election campaign, ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope took his seat in The Street Theatre to drink in Thom’s bitter life lessons. What he learned we can only guess at, but all the same it might pay to keep an ear out for any of Eno’s lines in future campaign speeches.


Melbourne Theatre Company presents
Thom Pain (based on nothing)
by Will Eno

Venue: The Street Theatre | Cnr Childers St & University Ave, Canberra City West
Date: September 30th - Oct 11
Bookings: 02 6247 1519 | www.thestreet.org.au