Dear Stone Theater Company Presents Will Eno's THOM PAIN (BASED ON NOTHING)

Dear Stone Theater Company presents "Thom Pain (based on nothing)" playwright Will Eno, at the Heartland Studio, at 7016 N Glenwood Ave, Chicago on Friday, July 22, 2016, at 7:30pm. Thom Pain (based on nothing), directed by Shawn Kronk and featuring Jake Baker, will preview on July 21, with a press opening on July 22, and will run every Thursdaythrough Sunday until closing night on August 6. For more information, visit dearstonetheater.org.

Thom Pain (based on nothing), a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist, is a solo show that invites us into the internal life of the title character. Thom Pain struggles to overcome the pain, isolation and past rejections of his life, along with his own fears and defenses, to achieve even the most tenuous connection with his audience. In a monologue of switchbacks between the heartwarming and the heart-wrenching, Thom Pain tells us the stories of a young boy and a past love in an attempt to parse out some small meaning from his suffering life-and the audience's.

Under the direction of Managing Artistic Director Shawn Kronk, Dear Stone Theater Company explores the human search for life's meaning despite resistance from a seemingly cruel and indifferent world.

Thom Pain (based on nothing) features Jake Baker as Thom Pain. The creative team for Thom pain (based on nothing) includes Shawn Kronk (director), Laura Nicol (scenic consultant), Jess Goings (lighting designer), Tyler Phillips (costume designer), and Olivia Sweets (dramaturge).

Jake Baker (Thom Pain) has been working in the Chicago theater for several years. He was last seen with Dear Stone Theater Company as Yvan in their production of 'ART.' Recent credits include multiple roles in Waltzing Mechaninc's El Stories, Collantine in Prologue's Lucrece From The Dark, Haas in Genesis Theatrical's Muse of Fire, as well as many others. A graduate of the University of TN, Knoxville's Theater program, he trained in multiple theater styles including Commedia Dell'arte, Shakespearean styles, Suzuki method, Stanislavsky, and Alexander Technique. He also works in film around the area, and was most recently cast as part of an ensemble for the series pilot of Line Please. Outside of theater and film he spends most of his time writing music and singing folk and blues songs around Chicago, as well as making indie films.

Shawn Kronk (director) is the founding artistic director of Dear Stone Theater Company. He has been working as a freelance theater artist and technician throughout Chicago for the last 3 years. He has directed Dear Stone Theater's productions of 'ART' and Much Ado About Nothing, and was assistant director for Wheaton College's 2014 production of Doubt: A Parable. Among other freelance work, he has served as master electrician for Porchlight Music Theatre, Haven Theatre, Side Show Theatre Company, Rivendell Theater Ensemble, and most recently for Lookingglass Theatre Company's production of Thaddeus and Slocum: A Vaudeville Adventure.

Dear Stone Theater Company is a not-for-profit theater run out of Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood. Dear Stone Theater Company seeks to provide employment and career-development opportunities for early-career theater artists in all theatrical discipline and in so doing, to create theater that explores the complex and often difficult reality of living together: acknowledging the inherent value and beauty of all people in spite of our flaws and failures. Thom Pain (based on nothing) is the opening show of their first full season.

Tickets are $15 ($10 for students and industry), available at http://dearstonethompain.brownpapertickets.com/

For details and more information visit www.dearstonetheater.org