The Last Incel
22 May 2025
Pleasance Theatre
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Comedy drama The Last Incel by Jamie Sykes is running at the Pleasance Theatre until the 31st May. The show delves into the dark side of the internet by examining Incel culture, a radical anti-feminist movement that’s manipulating young men the world over into very disturbing views on love and sexuality between the sexes. It’s a topic that hasn’t seen much attention in the theatre world yet, so it’s refreshing to see such a measured and fascinating take on it.
Ghost, Crusher, Einstain, and Cuckboy are devoted Incels, in their small discord community they are getting ready to celebrate Einstain’s ascension to wizard (turning 30 while still a virgin) when Cuckboy shows up hungover and with clear evidence he was not alone last night. When his fling turns out to be a journalist with an interest in their subculture, pandemonium hits the discord.
The show comes with a glossary of Incel terms to help viewers understand the lingo used on stage, avoiding having to go into explanations on stage and jumping right into the action. The characterisation of the four young men caught in a brutal subculture that purports that feminism condemns them to a life of misery and solitude is spot on, vivid and multi-layered, drawing up a fascinating image of desperately lonely and hurt young people stuck in a group that keeps them small and most of all, angry. Angry at women and the world, society and culture, but mostly women who won’t sleep with them.
The addition of Margaret, the young journalist who is fascinated by the way the young men interact, ripping each other to pieces rather than building each other up, immediately wanting to ban someone they just yesterday called a good friend simply because he got laid. She tries to study them, question their motivations and convictions, in turn exposing the dark side of this subculture to the audience. Interspersed with song, dance, and movement, it’s an enthralling staging that is poignant and urgent. Humanising a subculture that dehumanises women, examining reasons and arguments without trivialising how problematic this radicalisation of young men is, The Last Incel is a riotously funny show that defies the boundaries of off-line entertainment.
