Dubbed “stand-up existentialism” by The New York Times, Thom Pain (based on nothing) is a wry, sardonic monologue by an ordinary man. The play, a surreal meditation on life’s unfulfilled promise, is ultimately optimistic, but not before Thom Pain muses on childhood, yearning, disappointment and loss. Cataloguing the eternal agonies of the human condition, he draws his audience into his last-ditch plea for empathy and enlightenment. The work was first performed at the Soho Theatre in London as a Launch Pad reading, and then premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2004, where it won several awards. Its U.S. premiere was in January 2005 in New York. New Rep is honored to be presenting the New England premiere of this important work. Lowell-born, Brooklyn-based Will Eno, is a Guggenheim Fellow, Edward F. Albee Foundation Fellow, and an Oppenheimer Award winner. He has been called “a Samuel Beckett for the Jon Stewart generation,” by The New York Times.

The Downstage @ New Rep production of Will Eno’s 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist Thom Pain (based on nothing) stars Diego Arciniegas, who is well known to Boston audiences, and has performed frequently with New Rep and other area theatres. He serves as Artistic Director for the Publick Theatre. The production is directed by Adrianne Hewlett, who has directed several works at Brandeis, where she is Assistant Professor. She has appeared as an actress Off-Broadway and in numerous regional theaters including New Rep, most recently in last season's Frozen.

by Will Eno
directed by Adrianne Hewlett

Matthew CW Page, scenic design
Laurie Bramhall, costume design
David Kahn, lighting design
Carola Morrone, stage manager*

CAST
Diego Arciniegas*, Thom Pain

*member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

THOM PAIN (based on nothing)

Produced by Soho Theater Company in association with Chantal Arts + Theatre and

Naked Angels (NYC) at the Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh in August 2004.

Originally produced by Soho Theater Company, London in September 2004.

Original Production at DR2 Theatre, New York, Produced by Daryl Roth and Bob Boyett in February 2005.