Michael C. Hall to Star in ‘Thom Pain (based on nothing)’

By Brent Lang

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Michael C. Hall will return to the stage playing the title role in “Thom Pain (based on nothing).” The one-man show marks the “Dexter” star’s first appearance since headlining “Lazarus,” the trippy Ivo van Hove adaptation of “The Man Who Fell to Earth” that ran in New York and London in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

“Thom Pain (based on nothing)” is written by Drama Desk Award-winning playwright Will Eno ( and directed by Obie Award-winner Oliver Butler (“The Open House”). First performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2004 and nominated for a 2005 Pulitzer Prize after an Off-Broadway run, the play is a discursive monologue that tackles love, loss, magic, and bee stings. It runs Oct. 23 – Nov. 25, 2018 at the Irene Diamond Stage at the Pershing Square Signature Center in New York City.

It’s a reunion of sorts between actor and playwright. Hall previously starred in Eno’s Broadway production of “The Realistic Joneses” opposite Toni Collette, Tracy Letts and Marisa Tomei. Other Broadway credits for Hall include the revivals of “Cabaret,” “Chicago,” and “Hedwig & the Angry Inch.”

Hall is best known for his work as a serial killer on Showtime’s “Dexter” and as a funeral director on HBO’s “Six Feet Under.” He has also appeared on Netflix’s “The Crown” and in such films as “Game Night,” “Kill Your Darlings,” and the upcoming movies “The Torture Report” and “In the Shadow of the Moon.”