THOMAS IN LOVE
directed by Pierre-Paul Renders with BenoVerhaert runs Aug. 24-30 at Egyptian
MANY COMPANIES still don’t trust their employees to telecommute. Left alone in the privacy of our own homes, would we get any actual work done? Judging from the title character of Thomas in Love—a 33-year-old agoraphobic who accesses doctors, vacuum cleaner repairmen, and sex partners with a click of his “visiophone” (a videophonelike device that allows callers to see each other as they interact)—the answer is a resounding “Hell, no!”
Thomas takes what could be a quickly dated cybercommentary and transfuses it with a biting wit that snaps at the heels of post-post-modernism, lifting the curtain on its faulty wiring. When Thomas is busy getting it on with his Croftian sextoon Clara—a pastime he engages in with the frequency and fervency of a 13-year-old male who’s just learned the wonders of masturbation—the program conks out just as she’s mounting a poker table with her animated ass high in the air, enraging our protagonist (voiced by BenoVerhaert). Though we never see Thomas (a narrational tic that, believe it or not, works like a charm), we feel the frustration and terror of his isolated POV. If he’s not being interrupted by technical difficulties, his cybersex bouts are halted by a call from Mum (remember, we’re talking a video call here).
Thomas’ reluctant involvement with a sketchy totalitarian dating service further displays his softy side, but the hard realities of the great outdoors (and human interaction) keep him from finding true love with a chipmunky matchmate or a depressed hooker. Like The Truman Show before it, Thomas is an oddball satire about the sacrifices we make when we chose to interact with media rather than people.
