|
||
|
|
Peer Reviews Thom Pain (based on nothing) Reviewed by Deborah Ward Entire contents are copyright © Deborah Ward. All rights reserved.
I once had a boss who tried to teach me the power of negative speaking. He said, "Close you eyes. Imagine you are on a beach, alone. Listen to the waves and breeze brush your ears. Feel the sun warming every inch of your body. Smell the salty breeze tickle your nose, but whatever you do, DON'T imagine a large pink elephant flying low over your head." The lesson being that you get more when you state what you want than what you don't want. Perhaps Thom Pain could benefit from a positive language lesson. Thom Pain (played by Gil Reyes) is a man like any of us. He shares with us every sorry detail of his life. His childhood bee stings, nightmares, lovers' quarrels, and a haunting memory of pink elephants are stories that all of us relate to. During his life story monologue, Thom Pain's precise description of our internal reactions to our own life will leave one thinking, "Wow. Will Eno can read my mind and my emotions!" But knowing that Thom Pain is a middle-aged man, I kept wanting to scream at the character the words of my wise father, "If you break your arm, you let it heal. You don't keep breaking it over and over just so you can remember the pain." However, after an hour of Thom's stories and the occasional joke, I felt like I should file a claim with his insurance company to cover my counseling fees. Come on, Thom, it's time to let go. What I saw in Thom Pain that I wanted the most was to have someone listen intently to me for that length of time. I could never pull off that one, but Gil Reyes, who plays Thom Pain, turns this extensive monologue into gold. Thom Pain (based on nothing) almost won a Pulitzer Prize for Will Eno. The words and expressions are true to what humans feel and, at times, Thom Pain cleverly turns the mirror on the audience, reminding us that we are a waste to our own life. If you haven't reached that conclusion in your own life yet, you will find Thom Pain to be a deep delving into the meaning of human existence.
Thom Pain (based on nothing) February 7 &9, 15-16, 22-23 at 8:00 pm
Posted Feb. 19, 2008
|
|