Playwright: Will Eno
At: Theatre Wit at the Viaduct,
3111 N. Western
Phone: 773-506-8150; $25
Runs through: April 14
By Jonathan Abarbanel
At some point all of us have loved and lost; or had a treasured pet die; or indulged in escapist fantasies of success and happiness. From such commonplaces of existence, we construct our personal pain. For the broadly normal individual, personal pain matures into experience that's part protective and part wisdom. For those on the fringes of normalcy, personal pain can become a wallowing trough of perverse pleasure and security amidst the self-fulfilling expectation of failure.
So it is with Thom Pain, the bitterly funny man at the center of this sardonic playlet based ( its subtitle says ) on nothing. The work is a metaphysical comedy routine, colorful and specific enough to hold our interest yet vague enough to touch some sense memory in everyone. Call it purposeful obscurity.
Author Will Eno not only collects the small change of everyday emotional experiences, but also the small change of public presentation. Thom Pain revels in rich language, verbal non sequitur and logical absurdities. A cry is 'a plangent honking.' A love affair begins because 'We had an understanding, although neither one of us knew what it was.' A love affair ends because 'I disappeared inside her and she, not knowing where I'd gone, left.' Addressing the audience, Thom says 'You're a nice crowd. I see we have some couples here. Good for you,' before recounting his own emotional disasters, real or imagined.
Although just 75 minutes, the material requires a superior actor with both comedy chops and a sharp edge. Fortunately, Lance Stuart Baker is a superb comic actor with a deep dark streak. His completely naturalistic and self-deprecating manner, as he leaps from point to point and always circles back, reminds one of Robin Williams on meds, slowed down from 90 miles an hour to a sedate 35 but still dangerous behind the wheel. Indeed, when Baker invites audience involvement, we aren't sure what would happen if we really responded. Thom is in control, but possibly just for the moment. Director Jeremy Wechsler clearly is a man Baker has been wise to trust in developing the relaxed tension of his performance.
Thom Pain ( Based on Nothing ) is filled with emotional pinpricks, but has no sum of its parts. Thom is deeply sad and richly funny. Your own personal pain will establish the balance.
