Step Behind The Stage
The Last Incel
Pleasance Theatre, London - 16/05/25
Review by Alex King
Photo Credit: Dean Ben Ayre
Incels, short for involuntary celibates, are an online subculture of predominantly straight men who blame, belittle and dehumanise women for their lack of romantic or sexual relationships. What exists in digital echo chambers has, over the years, bled into real life with devastating consequences. It is not comfortable subject matter, but it is urgent. Jamie Sykes’ The Last Incel tackles it head on, holding up a mirror that feels unsettlingly close to reality.
The play unfolds within a Discord group chat populated by ‘Crusher’, ‘Ghost’, ‘Einstain’ and ‘Cuckboy’. These men spend their days spiralling in resentment, trading self loathing and misogyny in equal measure. The dynamic shifts when ‘Cuckboy’ reveals he has spent the night with a woman named Margaret, who soon finds herself drawn into their world and begins to challenge it.
Sykes opens with a sharp collage of language and imagery, introducing us to the tone and vocabulary of this space in a blunt, almost confrontational manner. That fragmented style resurfaces throughout, sometimes underscored by music, from a darkly comic riff on the film Drive to sequences that peel back the characters’ backstories. The pacing is tight, ensuring that even when the characters are deliberately abrasive, the play never loses its grip.
There is humour here, and plenty of it. The laughter, though, becomes complicated. As the evening progresses you begin to question whether you are laughing at them, with them or whether you should be laughing at all. That discomfort feels intentional, mirroring the way these communities can draw people in under the guise of irony or camaraderie. Crucially, the script never trivialises the harm. It is pointed, sometimes jarring, and refuses to soften the darker implications of what we are watching.
Photo Credit: Dean Ben Ayre
The production design is stripped back to allow the writing and performances to take centre stage. An empty stage, carefully considered lighting and a handful of frames are all that is needed. The minimalism sharpens the focus, making the words land harder.
The ensemble of five deliver committed performances across the board. GoblinsGoblinsGoblins and Jimmy Kavanagh inject much of the show’s humour as ‘Ghost’ and ‘Einstain’, yet beneath the punchlines there is an unsettling believability. They capture the blend of bravado and fragility that defines these men, at once ridiculous and deeply troubling.
Fiachra Corkery’s ‘Cuckboy’ serves as the emotional hinge of the piece. Corkery charts his character’s vulnerability with care, revealing how easily someone searching for belonging can be pulled into toxic spaces. There are moments where you sense how close he might come to choosing differently, and that possibility makes his trajectory all the more affecting.
As Margaret, Justine Stafford steps into the group’s orbit as a voice of reason, though never a simplistic moral compass. Constantly provoked and belittled, Stafford brings nuance to the role, balancing disgust with curiosity. She ensures Margaret feels like a fully realised person rather than merely an audience surrogate.
For many, the most chilling presence will be Jackson Ryan’s ‘Crusher’. While others lean more heavily into satire, Ryan grounds his performance in something starkly real. There is an intensity to his portrayal that lingers, leaving a quiet sense of dread in the closing moments.
The Last Incel is not easy viewing, nor should it be. It confronts an uncomfortable reality without flinching, managing to be darkly entertaining while never losing sight of the harm at its core. It is a play that provokes conversation long after the lights go down, and that feels precisely the point.
Cast on the Night:
Fiachra Corkery – Cuckboy
Jackson Ryan – Crusher
Justine Stafford – Margaret
GoblinsGoblinsGoblins – Ghost
Jimmy Kavanagh – Einstain