Thom Pain (Based on Nothing)
Jason Blake gave this piece, a monologue written by Will Eno, a good review in the SMH. We saw it last night, and I must say that I have no idea why. A more spectacular failure to engage the audience is a rarity. But the theatre was warm, the seat was reasonably comfortable, it was only a bit over an hour long, and after all these years of Buddhism I have at least a slight level of skill in resting my mind in its own nature, so I was able to let the time pass pleasantly enough.
There were good points: Sarah noticed that the line “The dead horse of a life we beat, all the wilder, all the harder, the deader it gets” was quite telling. And about 50 minutes into the show Luke Mullins, the actor, went “Boo” quite loudly and unexpectedly, so the audience was momentarily a-flutter as we all exclaimed a light “Hooh!”. So that was amusing.
Otherwise it came across to me as a self-indulgent ramble through an angst I didn’t feel – even vicariously – peppered with humour that was as sophomoric as the title.
