EDINBURGH 2026: THE LAST AUDITION Q&A
The Last Audition runs at Edfringe 7 - 29 August
BWW catches up with Paul Shearman to chat about bringing The Last Audition to the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Tell us a bit about The Last Audition.
The Last Audition is a one-man play about Sebastian Drake, an aging Shakespearean actor who is given one final chance to prove he still belongs on the stage: an audition for King Lear.
But very quickly, it becomes clear that this is about much more than a role. Sebastian is facing a moment where everything he has built his life around, his memory, his language, his independence, his identity as a performer, begins to feel uncertain. If he cannot hold onto the role he believes is still his, then the shape of his life itself will inevitably change.
As he prepares for the audition, we move between performance, memory, and fragments of his past, and we begin to see a man fighting not just for a part, but for the right to define himself one more time on his own terms.
It is funny, theatrical, and deeply human, but underneath it is a very simple question: when the thing that has defined your entire life starts to slip away, what do you hold on to?
And in the end... can he still do it? Or is this the moment he has to let go?
What was the inspiration behind writing it?
The inspiration came from a few different, very personal places. I watched my dad and grandfather both deal with memory issues, and I saw close friends suddenly finding themselves stepping into the role of caregiver for a parent, something they never expected to be doing in quite that way.
At the same time, as an actor, there's a very specific fear that sits underneath all of that: the reliance on memory, on being able to learn lines, hold language, and stay sharp. That started to overlap in my mind with a bigger theatrical question.
I found myself thinking, what if someone like Sir Laurence Olivier had faced dementia? What would that have meant for someone whose entire life had been built around language, performance, and memory?
That combination of personal experience and professional fear became the seed for The Last Audition.
What are some of the challenges with presenting something like this with a personal connection?
One of the biggest challenges is the emotional proximity to it. Because it's rooted in real experiences, people I love, and things I've witnessed, you can't simply switch that off when you step on stage. So part of the work has been learning how to hold that connection with honesty, but also with enough distance that I can actually perform it night after night.
The show itself moves across a wide emotional spectrum, from humour to real vulnerability, and that in itself is demanding. It's only 55 minutes, but it's very full, and it asks a lot physically, mentally, and emotionally every performance.
So I've had to train for it in quite a focused way, not just vocally and physically, but in terms of stamina and emotional control, so I can carry it fully each night without burning out.
And yet, the strange thing is that the challenge is also the reward. Audiences bring so much back into the room every night. There's a real exchange that happens. As I say in the play, being on stage really is a joy, it does make you feel alive, and that remains true, even in the most demanding moments.
Who would you like to come and see it?
I think the show is for a wide audience, younger and older. Most people, in some way, will have had experience of dementia in their lives, whether directly or through someone close to them, and many more will at some point in the future.
At its heart, it's a piece that deals with something quite difficult, but I hope it does so in a way that is ultimately uplifting and human. It's about memory, identity, and connection, and I think it leaves people with a sense of understanding as well as emotion.
That said, it isn't designed to sit comfortably for everyone. It asks the audience to engage quite directly, and at times it can be challenging. But for those who are open to a hard-hitting, intimate piece of theatre, I hope it's the kind of show that stays with them long after they leave the room.
And of course, anyone who loves Shakespeare, or just loves seeing language and performance used at full stretch, will hopefully find something in it too.
What would you like audiences to take away from it?
Hope.
Even though the show deals with memory loss, ageing, and the fragility of identity, I don't see it as a bleak piece. For me, it's ultimately about what remains when other things start to fall away, and very often what remains is connection, humour, and love.
I hope audiences leave feeling something of that. A sense that even in difficult or uncertain moments, there is still dignity in the person in front of you, and still something recognisably human that persists.
If there's one thing I'd want people to carry out of the theatre, it's that: a quiet sense of hope, and maybe a little more tenderness towards the people in their own lives.
The Last Audition runs at Edfringe 7 - 29 August
Photo credit: Eric Moore
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