He’s just like you, except worse. He is trying to save his life, to save your life – in that order. In his quest for salvation, he’ll stop at nothing, be distracted by nothing, except maybe a piece of lint, or the woman in the second row.
A Pulizer Prize Finalist, THOM PAIN (based on nothing) is a comic, disturbing but touching exploration of death, rejection, love and fear.

This provocative monologue charts one man’s anguished journey from shattered childhood dreams to the tenuous optimism of adulthood, told in dangerous intimacy by a voice loaded with wry humour and deceptive charm.

Thom Pain questions as much as he reveals, yet affirms life’s worth through a realisation of its unpredictable splendours amid its predictable mediocrities.

Ecstatically happy people should stay at home.

This brand new production, performed by Shane O’Regan and directed by Cathal Cleary, is the Irish premeire of a script that has received the highest acclaim in London and America. The Telegraph declared “it’s hard to imagine more dazzling writing on any stage” and the New York Times dubbed Will Eno “a Samuel Beckett for the Jon Stewart generation”. Thom Pain (based on nothing) was first performed in 2004 at the Soho Theatre before transferring to Broadway where it was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Praise for the original Broadway production,
“It’s one of those treasured nights in the theater – treasured nights anywhere, for that matter – that can leave you both breathless with exhilaration.”
– New York Times

Praise for the original London production ten years on,
“It’s still one of the best monologues I’ve ever seen”.
Lyn Gardner of the Guardian

Age suitability: 14+
Warnings: Some strong language

WRITTEN BY Will Eno
DIRECTED BY Cathal Cleary
CAST Shane O’Regan

TICKETS €19 | €17 (Concession) | €15 (Preview)

RUNNING TIME 65 mins

About the Company
Cathal Cleary recently directed the award-winning BLUE THUNDER by Padraic Walsh which was part of the Dublin Fringe Festival 2023. Previous directing credits include FURNITURE by Sonya Kelly (Druid), PORCELAIN by Margaret Perry (Abbey Theatre), THE HALF OF IT by Karen Cogan (Dublin Fringe) and DISCO PIGS by Enda Walsh (Young Vic London).