Theatre/Converse Presents "Thom Pain (Based on Nothing)"
Theatre/Converse open this year’s Studio Series with a one-man show that had its world premiere in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize. Will Eno’s “Thom Pain (Based on Nothing)” will run Friday and Saturday, Nov. 9 – 10 at 8:00 p.m. in the Laird Studio Theatre at Converse College. Admission is free and open to the public. The show is recommended for mature audiences. For info, call 864.596.9068.
“Thom Pain is at bottom a surreal meditation on the empty promises life makes, the way experience never lives up to the weird and awesome fact of being. But it is also, in its odd, bewitching beauty, an affirmation of life’s worth….”
The New York Times says, “To sum up the more or less indescribable: Thom Pain is at bottom a surreal meditation on the empty promises life makes, the way experience never lives up to the weird and awesome fact of being. But it is also, in its odd, bewitching beauty, an affirmation of life’s worth… a small masterpiece.”
The collaborative venture brings together students and faculty from several disciplines. Boone J. Hopkins of the Converse theatre faculty, performs the role of Thom Pain and Melissa Owens of the theatre faculty is director. Kelly Vaneman of the Petrie School of Music provides an aural soundscape for the production, and Andrew Blanchard of the art department has created original artwork from the perspective of the main character to serve as scenery. Converse psychology professor Marie LePage will lead an audience discussion following the performance to enable richer consideration for how the character can be interpreted.
“Artists have particular ways of approaching and responding to texts. Bringing together a diverse group of creative thinkers on our production team has facilitated thinking across disciplines that we hope results in a deeper experience for our audience. The Laird Studio Theatre is the perfect setting for such an intimate portrayal of one young man’s anguished journey into adulthood,” said Hopkins.