★★★1/2

Fringe Festival. The Garage International. 7 Mar 2026

 

The Last Audition is a gentle, quietly melancholic drama for one actor laced with pathos, love and longing. At its centre is an ageing actor, played with much authenticity by Paul Shearman, who has passed the zenith of an illustrious career yet remains only dimly aware that his finest years are behind him.

 

The action follows him as he arrives for an audition and waits his turn. In the unforgiving space of the waiting room, he reflects on past triumphs as a celebrated Shakespearean performer, while fielding frequent telephone calls from a concerned daughter checking in on him. Gradually it becomes clear that those former glories have slipped away—along with his once formidable ability to remember text.

 

Although the protagonist is an actor, the play reaches beyond the theatre world. At heart it is a reflection on cognitive decline and dementia that, sadly, can accompany ageing. Shearman approaches the role with sincerity, investing the fading performer with a touching mixture of dignity, vulnerability and quiet suffering. As the character begins to recognise what is happening to him, flashes of frustration and anger surface. Yet even in these moments he quickly regains composure, retreating into the civilised refuge of language. After all, he is a man of letters for whom a well-chosen fragment of Shakespeare can still tame the chaos within and without.

 

For all its emotional potential, however, the drama does not always land with the force it might. The script occasionally lingers too long on reflective passages, and tighter dialogue would sharpen the emotional trajectory of the piece. The tension between moments of lucidity and episodes of confused reminiscence is moving and could be made more affecting through stronger vocal contrasts and more expressive physicality.

 

The intimate configuration of the Garage International space should ideally amplify the character’s isolation. Yet the production’s technical elements do not fully support this atmosphere. More sensitive lighting and sound amplification could deepen the sense of loneliness and internal disorientation that lies at the heart of the story.

 

Even so, The Last Audition remains a thoughtful and gently affecting play that touches on an issue of growing relevance in an ageing society. With sharper dialogue and more empathetic technical support, it could become a far more powerful piece of theatre.

 

Kym Clayton

 

When: 19 Feb to 22 Mar

Where: The Garage International

Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au