Rating: ★★★★ (4/5)
Reviewed by: Nati Ziv
The Last Audition is the heartfelt creation of actor Paul Shearman, a one-man show where revered Shakespearean actor Sebastian Drake auditions for the role of King Lear, and it becomes increasingly clear that the elderly actor’s memory isn’t what it used to be.
It’s a play about identity and the self, exploring who you really are when your memories begin to fade, and whether it’s possible to carry on doing what you love. Through phone calls with his daughter, it is revealed that she is encouraging him to move to assisted living. Sebastian has clearly devoted his entire life to the theatre and is terrified of who he might be if he is forced to leave it forever.
This performance has a purpose which permeates every line, tying together Sebastian’s soliloquies, warm-ups and rehearsals. His emotions are open on his face, the dialogue raw and full of passion. With decades of experience, Sebastian shares with us the secrets to Shakespearean acting. All the while, he becomes increasingly frustrated at his lapses of memory, even angry at times, and by the end of the performance, it verges into fear and terror. Never is this more evident than with the repeated, “What if the thought won’t come?”
Paul Shearman’s acting is nothing less than wonderful. He had us utterly transfixed, caring for and feeling deeply for Sebastian as an actor both talented and tragic. The Last Audition is a play with great heart and is well worth seeing.
