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by Will Eno, directed by Jennifer Tarver

Tarragon Theatre, Tarragon Theatre Extra Space, Toronto

December 17, 2006

Will Eno is one of the most exciting new voices in American theatre, so we should be grateful to the Tarragon Theatre for giving Toronto its first glimpse of his work.  Thom Pain (based on nothing) from 2004 is a brilliant one-hour monologue and prime example of postmodern existentialism.  Instead of Beckett’s archetypal tramps placed on a barren landscape, Eno gives us an updated equivalent--Thom Pain, the friendless nerdy guy from school, now grown up and placed on a barren stage to explain his life.  Thom’s problem is not merely that he is aware of the meaningless of his life and of the exercise of trying to explain it, but, worse, he is hilariously paralyzed by an overwhelming self-consciousness about everything he does or says.  Thus it’s impossible for him to get through his two stories about himself and his loss of innocence without continually interrupting himself with asides, digressions and apologies.

Tom McCamus’s portrayal of Thom Pain is technically excellent, but it’s clear he is miscast.  McCamus naturally exudes an undisguisable charisma and intensity that inform everything he does--precisely what Thom should so crucially lack.  In McCamus’s hands, Thom’s interaction with the audience comes off slyly calculating rather than signifying, as they should, Thom’s total ineptitude in dealing with the outside world.

©Christopher Hoile

Note: A version of this review appeared in Eye Weekly 2006-11.23.

Photo: Tom McCamus as Thom Pain.