The lesson from watching the Denver Center Theatre Company’s confounding yet intoxicating “1001” was simple: Don’t make this too hard on yourself; just experience it. Same for “Thom Pain … (based on nothing)”: Abandon literalism and theatrical convention.
Granted, “don’t think, just listen” can be a difficult task for Denver audiences who aren’t often exposed to nonliteral theater. But don’t be afraid: The world that playwright Will Eno creates here is one entirely of your own imagination. One where the wide expanses of a big, empty Bug Theatre stage are soon filled with your own thoughts, images, questions and annoyances.
That stage is populated only by a man in a natty black suit, slim tie and thick glasses, all courtesy of a young Elvis Costello. But he’s no rock star. And he’s no Thomas Paine. This is Thom Pain, no “e” – a man who lives up to his name. He’s a pain … who’s in pain.
He’s a rabble-rouser, like the pamphleteer, but our man is just a man. A deeply damaged seeker who talks, agitates, pontificates, philosophizes and gets up in your grill for 85 minutes. Then, poof!
He asks questions throughout this smart if esoteric monologue – and so do we. Questions like “Who is this man?” “What is this man?” “Is he even a man?” “Is he us?”
Thom Pain could be anyone, but I think (emphasis on “think“) he’s not a man at all; rather the collective mind of a modern man personified. He’s alone and abrasive, but he’s still trying to figure things out, and there is sweetness in that. He wants us to understand things that he can’t quite explain. That is his cursed fate: “I’m a feeling thing,” he says, “in a wordy body.”
All we know for sure is that this man makes for an unreliable narrator. Listen, but don’t trust him. Just enjoy all the ways in which actor Erik Tieze and Modern Muse director Terry Dodd toy with us.
When we meet Thom, we’re all, literally, in the dark. He asks a few invasive opening questions, and a fake audience member walks out, to Thom’s taunts. We’re being messed with, in form and storytelling. For example, our emcee is always telling us what a nice crowd we are. But are we? Those words are in a script. Is anything he says genuine?
The most thrilling theatrical moment takes place when Thom wanders out into the audience. Apparently some people actually enjoy when actors resort to the old trick of forced interaction. Usually, I feel uncomfortable; here I felt like a bank hostage. It was as if he had walked through the fourth wall and into my living room. He invaded my space. That’s the point, of course. He has made us uncomfortable and restless, but at least he has made us feel something.
There’s plenty of absurdist fun to lighten the mood. Like when Thom announces a raffle; I swear the guy next to me reached into his pocket. People! Does anyone remember actually buying a ticket? No! Thom also introduces all kinds of cryptoquiptic puns like “I want to be to my own self untrue” and “Your throats must be getting dry from all the things you’ll never say.”
But amid the torrent of philosophical oxymorons, self-help platitudes and intentional contradictions, Thom raises intriguing universal questions cloaked in an incredible sadness. He wants to know why we as humans are so afraid to experience joy.
I actually thought I was having this huge epiphany. “He’s Didi – with no Gogo to talk to!” I thought, referring to Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” tramps. I was feeling quite smug about that, in fact, only to later discover that’s pretty much the conclusion every critic has come to. Oh, well.
Tieze does a remarkable job embodying this damaged yet likable guide. It’s an all-consuming performance. He teases us, then he pulls back. He preys and prays on us like a televangelist. He uncovers a hole in each of us, then leaves that hole unfilled. We find ourselves fighting a conflicting need to be let in and to be let out, simultaneously.
Your instinct may be to rebel against this odd and seemingly arbitrary play. But as “1001” proved, the best art should be about mystery.
Thom Pain is a pain, all right. But at least he’s working on it. Trying to become a better person. Are you?
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“Thom Pain … (based on nothing)”
Presented by Modern Muse at the Bug Theatre, 3654 Navajo St. Written by Will Eno. Directed by Terry Dodd. Starring Erik Tieze. Through Oct. 28. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 7 p.m. Sundays. 85 minutes. $20. 303-780-7836 or
Read, hear more on Erik Tieze
To listen to John Moore’s entire “Running Lines” interview with Erik Tieze and his wife, A. Lee Massaro,
To read a brief excerpt from the interview with Tieze and Massaro,
3 more
“The Night Heron.” In an isolated cabin, a gardener with a secret is recording horticulture tips when his roommate arrives to announce the solution to all their problems – if only they can write a good poem. A mystery by Jez Butterworth (“Mojo”) presented by Paragon Theatre. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays through Nov. 10 at the Phoenix Theatre, 1124 Santa Fe Drive. $19 (2-for-1 Thursdays); 303-300-2210 or .
“The Deep Beep-Beep: Eight Short Plays about Sputnik.” This commissioned production by Theatre Company of Lafayette explores how the launch of a basketball- sized orb 50 years ago changed the 20th century. 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 27 (plus 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15 and 2 p.m. Oct. 21) at 300 E. Simpson St. $12-$15 (720-209-2154 or ). For a six-page sample from Edith Weiss’ “Dancing With the Jihad,”
“Three Directions.” Three short plays by Denver’s David McClinton, each dealing with characters who find themselves in unusual and not entirely realistic situations. 7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays through Nov. 17 at the First Divine Science Church, 1400 Williams St. $10-$15. Info: E-mail brookscenterarts@yahoo.com. To read eight-page sample from David McClinton’s trio of short plays,
– John Moore
This week’s podcasts
Audio: Edith Weiss: This week on Running Lines, Denver Post theater critic John Moore talks with comedian Edith Weiss, one of eight local playwrights who have contributed to Theatre Company of Lafayette’s “The Deep Beep-Beep: Eight Short Plays about Sputnik.”
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Video Karen Slack: John Moore interviews Karen Slack (Lady M) in the first of a series of short interviews with the cast of Listen Productions’ “Macbeth” (length: three minutes), opening Oct. 20. Next: The Three Witches (will be posted Oct. 13). The video will appear at the top of the center column. From there, just press play.
