About this Event

Will Eno’s Award-Winning Thom Pain (based on nothing) Receives its English-Language Berlin Premiere

Theatre Pool, Berlin | 18 to 22 August 2026

Berlin, July 2026 — Greg Karvellas is proud to announce the English-language Berlin premiere of Thom Pain (based on nothing) by Will Eno, running 18 to 22 August 2026 at Theatre Pool, Berlin. This marks the first professional production of Eno’s celebrated play in Berlin in its original English language.

If you see one piece of English-language theatre in Berlin this year, make it this one.

A Pulitzer Prize finalist and a play that has been produced in over a dozen countries and left audiences breathless everywhere it has landed, it comes to Berlin for the first time in its original English.

A man steps onto a stage. One hour later, you will not be entirely sure what just happened to you, only that something did. Will Eno’s Thom Pain (based on nothing) is strange, funny, precise, and unlike anything else. Directed by Greg Karvellas and performed by Berlin-based British actor Charlie Dupré, it speaks about a bee, a boy, a dog, and a woman, and somehow cuts straight to the bone of being alive.

The New York Times called it “one of those treasured nights in the theatre… breathless with exhilaration… in a puddle of tears. Also in stitches.” The Guardian, a decade after the original production, described it as “still one of the best monologues I’ve ever seen.” It was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2005 and won the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Award in its debut year. It has since been translated into over a dozen languages and produced across the world. Berlin is long overdue.

The director (Greg Karvellas) is South African. Former Artistic Director of The Fugard Theatre in Cape Town

Disclaimer: We are sharing this event for informational purposes only. South Africans in Germany is not affiliated with the organisers and does not sell or manage tickets. Please purchase tickets directly from the official event organiser.

Tickets: €22 presale / €24 at the door Pre-booking is highly advised. Running time: Approximately 60 minutes, no interval

Performed in English.

Content notes: Contains themes of loss and mortality. Flashing lights.

Booking: www.theatrepool.com