THOM PAIN (based on nothing)

 

Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) by Will Eno. 

Directed and mentored by Maddie Lee. Production assistant and acting coach Mark Lee. Stage Manager Bes Grant. Performed by Joey Minogue. A Mill Theatre Co- Production. Co-produced by Lexi Sekuless and Joey Minogue. The Mill Theatre. April 15-25 2026. Bookings: Humanitix.

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

Joey Minogue plays Thom Pain

Poor Thom. Pain wracks his mind. Is it the nightmarish image of the small boy in a puddle cradling the corpse of an electrocuted dog. Or the trembling fear of bees that causes such pain. Maybe it is the aching pain of sexual desire. Or simply the pain of grappling with life, of confronting one’s inadequacies and the inability to create magic.

Will Eno’s stream of consciousness monologue about a young man battling demons, reaching out for some assurance that his life has value, that it is more than a “whatever” or an” anyway “or a dictionary definition.  Is it rather the cynical ravings of a misanthrope or the despairing declarations of a nihilist. Eno charts a trajectory in which ADHD battles the depressing reality of bipolar mood swings.

Director Maddie Lee and actor Joey Minogue make the most of the intimacy of the Mill Theatre. Spots are used to catch Minogue like a startled rabbit in the light or swing to capture an audience member drawn into Pain’s attempts to make sense of his confusions. Minogue is charged with a nervous energy. Lee carefully directs his sudden changes of mood and preoccupation. We watch a man grappling with a life that has made him the sorry victim of a condition that has the audience at one moment laughing hysterically at its absurdity and at another moved to empathy. Minogue presents a character who shines a light on the plight of those who confront life’s challenges. Though Eno may ironically claim that the title is based on nothing, Thom Pain (based on nothing) is a plea for understanding and compassion. Minogue’s one-hour solo performance reveals Eno’s unique imagination while creating a riveting insight into an all-too-common problem in our complex society.  

Written in the early years of this century and lauded as a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize, Eno’s Thom Pain (based on nothing) reflects the hardship of battling mental health problems in the search for identity and reassurance. Its importance is even more significant in a society that has become more reliant on support for and recognition of people undergoing mental health problems. The Mill Theatre co-production played to an enthusiastic and appreciative audience on opening night. They willingly engaged in any audience participation and clapped and cheered enthusiastically as Minogue took his highly deserved curtain call.

I couldn’t help but feel that this one act tour-de-force solo performance of the troubled Thom Pain should be supported by a touring grant and played nationally and followed by a Q and A. Eno’s originality and command of language ensures theatrical entertainment but this production is also an affirmation of the power of theatre to raise and actively support social issues. Eno’s luminescent text is not didactic. It presents a human being with whom we can all identify and empathize with. Director Lees and actor Minogue succeed admirably in illuminating playwright Eno’s spotlight on society’s individual and collective responsibility to improve the mental health of people struggling to make sense of their world.

Photos by Mark Ollman, Maddie and Mark Lee Photography