Milo, Amelia, and Arlo play three of the central characters in Thomus. They shared their insights into the characters they play, and what their characters represent in the story of Thomus.
Thomus is in a bad way at the start of the play. He's left his hometown, his friends and contacts. His parents are arguing constantly and look like they are about to break up. He's scared because the future seems hopeless. He's also angry at his parents for putting him into this situation. He's 17 and bright, but is not emotionally prepared for the drastic changes that befall him. Thomus is just trying to work stuff out as best he can.
He wants comfort, he wants to get rid of his malaise, and he looks outside himself for things to fulfill him. Thomus is the vehicle through which the audience experience most of the world. He represents innocence, naivety and a non-cynical world view. One of the big questions the play poses is about the current socio-political set-up (that is, a capitalist neo-liberal democracy). A lot of the older characters are deeply embedded in this system and see no other way of doing things. Thomus however, is wide open to other possibilities, he sees no inherent need to continue doing the things they have always been done and is looking for something to fulfil him on a deeper level. "Why is it that two people can join together, put all their things into one place, purchase that place together, then make a person of their very own to share their things and their place with... but this doesn't make them happy."
|
Wendy wants to feel challenged and know what it is like to be pushed. She feels bored and above the expectations of her to be a good student and 'good girl' and sees helping Thomus with his predicament as a way to prove herself.
Wendy is 17 and I remember, when I was 17 I was incredibly self-conscious in my body. I felt too big, too lumpy, too tall - not 'pretty' and not interesting enough and it's been cool and helpful remembering this and how it manifests in my body. Ash has encouraged me to play with the idea that Wendy is lead by her limbs which I think is spot on for the character. She has all this energy combined with a need to appear interesting and it has to come out somewhere! The conflict between and for all characters is about if we should do what we know is right or what we feel we want to. Wendy is thinking about similar things to Thomus, but acts on these thoughts in the opposite way to him. She represents a different way of dealing with growing up and going from teen to adult. Where Thomus's teenage 'angst' and naivety, for lack of a better word, manifests in him actively questioning what the right thing to do is, Wendy's manifests by her never questioning (where maybe sometimes she should) and acting on a bullish impulse. "I'm fucking out here for you ok. We'll find him, we'll sort it. He's just some dude who's about to go to jail."
|
Gertrund is a young 'yes-man' that wants nothing more than to be told that he is good enough by the people he admires. This has mutated into a strange kind of hero worship for George to the point where his entire self worth is based on what one man thinks of him. Honestly I think he only finds himself involved in crime for the camaraderie he feels when he is on the job with the lads. He essentially spends the whole play trying to win affection from George and is rocked when a new player is introduced to the game.
I think he represents the darker side of the world that Thomus dips his toes in, and maybe what Thomus could one day become if he continued his foray into crime. Gertrund also represents the writer's joy in playing with this language style, as a character he is always trying to be the most verbose person in the room because to him that is winning. When playing Gertrund, I thought about my own experiences with letting my self-worth be based on others, and tried to manifest that in the body and voice. For me, this play is about actions having consequences. There is no such thing as being passive in this world, even in-action is a choice. Money does not equate to happiness. "Why thanks my man I find I've often had a efficaciousness of spoken speech."
|