EDINBURGH 2026 Review: THIS IS NOT AMERICA: A RAZOR-EDGE NEW PLAY TO START YOUR DAY!, Pleasance Courtyard
Runs until 31 August.
Three brothers are being questioned after something terrible happened in Brooklyn. In a room with no door and a concerning amount of esoteric symbolism, they reveal a dark secret that threatens the veil between reality and spirituality. Written and directed by Philip Stokes, starring Jack Stokes, this is a disturbed and disturbing look at the American Dream. A collection of complicated far-right personalities who consume red-pill content as if it’s their daily bread materialises in front of us.
The Stokeses examine megalomania, violence, conditioning, and toxic masculinity in an exquisite showcase of writing and acting prowess. Jack Stokes shifts between flippant arrogance, reactionary defensiveness, and meek entitlement brilliantly, supported by a script that’s as subtle in its purpose as it is evocative in its details.
It’s an intense, twisted, rattling performance. While a morbidly fascinating exploration of brainwashing culture unfolds, we’re presented with an even more frightening prospect. What happens when mental health goes unchecked? Or when someone’s distress is allowed to slip between the cracks of a system that’s unequipped to help? How do you spot the early signs of deviance? What is the meaning of evil?
The monologue doesn’t address any of this, opting to present the disconcerting aftermath instead. Its metaphors are polished and unequivocally resolute. As the narrative keeps coiling and evolving, we’re fed crumbs of the real facts. It’s not a show that you can simply sit and stare at blankly. Stokes urges you to use your brain, to challenge the structures that allow ignorance to fester. It’s a galvanising, nuanced call to arms to open our eyes and think.
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