Thomas is an evangelist. Evangelism has never been such a solipsistic experiment and an audience has never enjoyed it so much. Thomas Campbell gives a performance that won’t soon be forgotten. This one-man show inhabits an entire town. Opening onto a stage set with multiple tape recorders and the character, Thomas, cooking a scrambled egg, the audience are presented “a day in the life”. This day, though, becomes more and more intimately warped by Thomas’ worldview. He’s fanatical and cowardly and god-fearing. The misunderstandings he brings to his perception of society are thoroughly explored by the playfulness of his habitation of other characters. He’ll speak as them, speak for them and finally speak about them all to write them down as sinners in his “little book”. Self-awareness is an art and poor Thomas doesn’t have any. The poor audience though sits back and watches an inevitable train wreck: a competent and energetic actor delivering a show that can only end in a singularity.
The creditable technical side of the production deserves mention. Flawless playback allowed Thomas to carry on the dialogue with other members of the town exactly as he saw fit. The comprehensive script still found times to allay itself and give weight to a few poignant images as Thomas went about his “godly work”. Nothing short of phenomenal is his energy output for the hour that the audience watches him. There’s room to include a greater number of pauses, and longer, too, but that’s a pedantic criticism for an altogether un-look-away-able show. This train wreck is nuanced and beautiful.
