Review: EXHAUSTED PAINT at Big Couch

Fat Squirrel's production of EXHAUSTED PAINT: THE DEATH OF VAN GOGH takes an unconventional approach to Vincent van Gogh's story. Written by Justin Maxwell and directed by Carly Stroud, the solo show stars Drew Stroud in a performance that deliberately avoids romanticizing the troubled artist. Playing at Big Couch through October 18, this production offers a portrait of Van Gogh that's more interested in his volatility than his victimhood.

The structure sets the show apart from traditional biographical theatre. Scenes drawn from Van Gogh's letters to his brother Theo are performed in an order determined by spinning a wheel onstage. This means every performance is different, with the device reflecting the chaos and disorientation of the painter's life. The famous moments are all there: the ear, the yellow house in Arles, the relationship with Gauguin, the final days in Auvers-sur-Oise, but they land differently when they are yanked from their expected sequence.

The wheel becomes its own character, an ominous force that controls the narrative. Each spin creates anticipation, a pause before plunging into another piece of Van Gogh's psyche. This device literalizes the disorder of a mind that never found peace. It's an interesting way to reject the traditional cradle-to-grave biography, dropping the audience into the turbulence rather than guiding them through it chronologically.

Stroud's Van Gogh is prickly, volatile and quick to shift moods; charming, then manic, then poetic, then embarrassing. His performance is intense, marked by abrupt shifts in energy. He can't settle, always chasing an elusive vision. Yet Stroud finds stillness at key moments, letting Van Gogh's isolation land quietly.

Stroud has toured this show at Edinburgh Festival Fringe and 59E59 in New York, and his experience shows in the lived-in nature of his performance. The characterization feels fully developed, revealing layers over time. Stroud doesn't play Saint Vincent or the tortured genius; he plays a difficult man you might avoid, even as you see his brilliance.

Maxwell's script uses Van Gogh's actual letters and the language bears their weight. Dark humor mixes with honesty and levity, while breaking the fourth wall, drawing on Van Gogh's self-awareness and absurdity. The writing feels textured, more impressionistic than literal, which fits the subject. Wit balances the darkness, keeping the show from overwhelming bleakness. Maxwell shows Van Gogh wasn't just suffering; he was also observing and sometimes laughing at himself and the world.

Though thematically fitting, the wheel can become repetitive. Van Gogh's recurring struggles, his hunger for recognition, inability to connect, reliance on Theo and belief in his art, return in random order, sometimes feeling circular. The structure can slow momentum, occasionally becoming tedious. However, the production ultimately achieves coherence, with a final image that lands well, though the journey can feel long.

Carly Stroud's direction is admirably spare, relying on the actor and text without embellishment. The stage holds only an easel, papers, the wheel and hanging symbols for each scene. The set design suggests Van Gogh's palette, canvases and warm tones, without being literal. Light shifts subtly with each scene, guiding the mood quietly. The simplicity keeps focus on the performer and text, and transitions are clean. The atmosphere adjusts as the wheel turns, always serving the moment.

The production highlights Van Gogh's desperate need to be loved and understood, not just his suffering for art. Abrasive and deliberately uncomfortable, it refuses to make him sympathetic or sanitized. This approach feels more honest than another martyred-genius story. You may not love this Van Gogh, but you'll likely see understand him much more.

If you want a straightforward biography, look elsewhere. If you're open to meeting an unpolished, difficult Van Gogh, a man chasing colors he can't mix and feelings he can't hold, this production offers something different. It's a lean, nervy show that refuses to mythologize its subject.

EXHAUSTED PAINT: THE DEATH OF VAN GOGH plays at Big Couch (1045 Desire St., New Orleans) through October 18 at 7:30 p.m.