What I liked
I really enjoyed the performance of Johnny Yoder. He easily got me to fully stay engaged as I (and the rest of the audience) went on his journey that showcased his character’s (but also most humans) vulnerability, humor, anger, sadness. With a very minimal set it allowed us to focus just on him And his performance and we were entrenched and hanging on to each word to see where he would lead us next in tales of love, loss, trauma, moving forward and also staying still.
What I didn't like
The only aspect to the show that seemed unnecessary to me was the injection of music/sounds from time to time. I’m sure the intent was to heighten or bring about certain feelings/emotions in the audience at specific intervals but I felt Mr Yoder already brought out those same feelings/emotions effectively with his performance and subject matter
My overall impression
Thom Pain (based on nothing) is a fascinating, intriguing and, for myself, relatable one person play that takes the audience on a stream of consciousness ride. One is brought into the inner most thoughts of a single individual and though they are a stranger their stories make us realize just how similar we all are as human beings.
