Theatre / Thom Pain (based on nothing) by Will Eno. Directed by Maddie Lee. At Mill Theatre, Fyshwick, until April 25. Reviewed by ALANNA MACLEAN.

If the often-convoluted stories about life that appear in The New Yorker appeal, then this monologue will be right up your alley.

The reminiscences of Thom Pain (Joey Minogue) have that New Yorker touch. There’s a dog and bees and death and lots about growing up. There’s lots about the frustrations of male-female relationships. The central character has problems trying to sort out his life.

There’s a touch of Waiting for Godot too, as events go round in repetitious loops and imagery is repeated. Audience participation hovers as a perpetual threat.

At 90 minutes, there’s much to keep juggling. Minogue does a mostly good job with this, keeping the audience alert to the danger of being asked to join in, a brink he turns back from until late in the piece.

The problem, as with Waiting for Godot, is to keep things varied and to keep the energy going, even if the audience isn’t always clear about what is happening.

Opening night’s audience contained quite a few younger members who were clearly enjoying the threatened involvement and the moments of direct conversation.

The resonances of the name Thom Pain are probably greater for an American audience but 18th-century revolutionary Thomas Paine’s ideas about freedom and purpose perhaps create a background irony. This Thom Pain only seems to be achieving a general fury and frustration.

It’s worth a visit especially for those interested in the more abstract and challenging areas of modern theatre.