The Last Mad Man at Edinburgh Fringe 2026 ★★★★★
★★★★★ The Last Mad Man | Assembly Roxy: Downstairs
In The Last Mad Man, Steven Phillips-Horst fights to remain relevant as a copywriter when he is asked to re-brand ‘The Apocalypse’.
Photo Credit: Hiroki Tani
Steven Phillips-Horst’s new play, The Last Mad Man, is an investigation of what happens when capitalism is still persistent in the final days of human civilization. How does a copywriter sell to consumers when they are full of fear about the final days? Part dark comedy, part social commentary, this one-man performance is the kind of script that makes you rethink the ways in which identity has become commoditized. It has everything you might expect from corporate commentary– From a Ted Talk esc presentation about rebranding a plus-size women’s boot conglomerate, to Wilson the robot-assistant that keeps Steven organized (and not lonely).
This script is clever, starting off in a more cartoonish way with Steven playing into a heavy accent. But the more the audience is engulfed in this post-apocalyptic world of ‘Plussy’ boxes that never stop arriving, and radio ads that guilt consumers into buying fast-fashion to prevent it from going into the ocean, the more this fantasy doesn’t feel too far from the current present. Although exaggerated for effect, there is an honesty and truth to The Last Mad Man that allows an unsettling reality-realization to overwhelm the audience, making you rethink how capitalism has rebranded human purpose. The flashbacks included in the show are aptly timed, and intentional to understand Steven in a more full capacity. The audience sees how even he has been corrupted by the corporate advertising world as he’s tried to feel like a hero worthy of praise.
The Last Mad Man reminds the audience that when we are on death’s door, what we truly will miss is not the products we could have had, but the people we never spent enough time with. After all, at the end of the day, all we have is love.
| Access Score ♿ (1/5) 🚧Access notes: For the Downstairs: no level access, 18 steps down to the venue, 6 steps up to the seating bank. Assembly does provide an access email and phone number on the website. There is wheelchair access in some of the other rooms held at Assembly Roxy. 🔥Heat: Room is a reasonable temperature. 💺Seat: Steps down aisles, little room between rows, and fold out seats. |
I am a Reviewer at To Do List. I love critical thinking and despise generated-A.I. My happy place is drinking a steamed chai latte, while typewriting a poem as I’m cozying up with a cat on a rainy day. I think the Pilot G2 05 pen is the best writing tool. Theatre performance is my life-passion, but I also find joy in a long train ride, a romance novel, and a sappy story. I believe it is the small things in life that truly become the big things.
