The Last Incel – The Pleasance Theatre, London

A sharp, unsettling and darkly funny look at online extremism and male loneliness, The Last Incel brings the dark spaces of the internet to the stage.

The Last Incel

A Brief Glossary of Incel Terminology greets me on the familiar Pleasance Theatre cabaret-style table. What will the next hour have in store? The Last Incel, written and directed by Jamie Sykes, is set in a digital echo chamber brought to life on stage.

The plot follows a group of men who identify as Incels: united by their shared grievances and lack of success with women. Their world is laced with anger, confusion, and a desperate desire for belonging. It’s the day one of them, Einstain (Jimmy Kavanagh), “ascends” to wizard status (Incel-speak for turning 30 as a virgin). His comrades Crusher (Jackson Ryan) and Ghost (GoblinsGoblinsGoblins) prepare to mark the occasion. But one of their number is missing. Cuckboy (Fiachra Corkery) hasn’t logged in. The reason? Betrayal of betrayals – he’s been with a woman. And worse, she’s still in his house.

Enter Margaret (Justine Stafford), the unexpected visitor. She’s a woman, and a journalist, and her presence in the group’s online lair upends everything. Will their alliance hold, or will Margaret spark something resembling reflection?

The script is sharp and packed with real Incel terminology. Some of it’s funny, some is uncomfortable, and some is genuinely unsettling. The play doesn’t sanitise the culture it’s representing. But it also doesn’t present its characters as caricatures. Their beliefs are appalling, but they’re also recognisable. Products of isolation, confusion, and a desire for control.

There’s plenty of wit here. A lot of humour too, much of it dark. The dialogue lands well, and the performers are tightly in sync. Justine Stafford brings an impressive mix of charm and challenge to Margaret. Kavanagh’s wide-eyed Einstain is particularly affecting, capturing the vulnerability under the ideology. Corkery gives Cuckboy a believable crisis of conscience.

Trapped in Ideology

One thing the play illustrates particularly well is how the Incel world functions as a support system. Like many extremist spaces, it offers community to those who feel excluded. It fills a void. But the cost is steep: conformity, increasingly rigid beliefs, and the rejection of empathy. In this world, emotional vulnerability isn’t allowed. And if you form a connection with a woman, you’ve betrayed the group. It poses an important question: can you still be involuntarily celibate if you’re actively choosing that identity to maintain your friendships?

The staging is clever. Frames which act as screens, usernames, and sudden shifts in tone evoke the experience of being online. The (uncredited) design makes the internet physical. The characters are avatars, but they’re also people. Movement sequences add visual interest, but at times feel a bit extraneous, like they’re reiterating things already made clear in the dialogue.

One aspect I struggled with slightly is that it’s a woman, Margaret, who ultimately pushes the group to reflect. That’s not an inherently bad narrative choice, and her role is well written. But it reinforces the idea that women are the ones who must fix broken men, take responsibility for Incels’ emotional lives. That said, without her, there might not be a play at all. It’s a delicate tension.

There’s a lot here that’s well observed and smartly executed. The world of The Last Incel is toxic, but it isn’t exaggerated. That makes it all the more compelling. The characters are trapped not only in their ideology, but in each other. It’s a bold piece with big ideas, and it mostly lands. A bit more refinement, especially around pacing and movement, and it could be even stronger.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3.5/5

The Last Incel on until 31 May 2025. More info and tickets here.