Edinburgh Fringe 2026

Last Orders

Edinburgh University Theatre Company

Genre: Comedic, Farce, Fringe Theatre, LGBTQ+ Theatre, New Writing, Theatre

Venue: Bedlam Theatre

Festival: Edinburgh Fringe

Low Down

Review

Last Orders doesn’t hide that it is a low-budget student show. In fact, it seems to embrace it and use that to its advantage. The show begins with two brothers, John and Jeremy, inheriting their deceased father’s bar, and what ensues after is an absurd (bordering on nonsensical) hour of comedy only loosely guided by the plot. Though that may sound like a criticism, it is actually the nonsense and divergence from the through-line that make this play work. 

The play seems to double-in on itself as a caricature of hyper-masculine American southern men. Though the ‘dumb hillbilly’ is becoming a tired stereotype, as the plot became more (purposefully) derailed, the dialogue followed suit with random bursts of modern or literary references that were intentionally out of character. Furthermore, the minimal costuming, drawn-on mustaches, and the way the all-female cast seemed to over-play their performances of masculinity with a myriad of sex jokes, beer chugging, and chest-bumping, made it seem as though both the ‘macho man’ and ‘dumb hillbilly’ caricatures were meant to be ironic representations of the stereotypes rather than the stereotypes themselves. 

However, in the beginning, it felt as though the whole basis of the play’s humour was that American southerners are uneducated and ignorant, rather than the meta-humour they were building towards. Many of these initial jokes were a bit repetitive and cliche. There were some jokes that were memorably good satire, like when John said he doesn’t eat vegetables because he is keto. That kind of joke, when keto and carnivore diets are so lauded amongst conservative men in the U.S., was far more effective than saying ‘I don’t know, I can’t read!’ several times. Because of the overall concept of the play, having an over-the-top caricature was necessary, but the mockery worked far better when it was a bit more creative and had some basis in reality. 

In both halves of the play, the acting was exactly what it needed to be,  campy, over-the-top, and with passable but cheesy accents. The first 5-10 minutes of the show were a bit shaky as the actresses were finding their footing, but we could see them all relax and have fun with the roles as the play went on and the laughter ensued. 

The laughs were frequent, and the constant onslaught of crude humour was syncopated by 3 dance numbers. The dance numbers often came at pivotal moments where, in most plays, the dialogue would lead to some revelation or resolution. In this play, the dancing created more and more plot holes that the audience happily leaned into. 

It was clear that the 4 actresses were having a lot of fun on stage, and much of the play felt like one long inside joke between them, which in my opinion was a delight to watch and be able to laugh with them. Though I am not certain everyone who sees this play will necessarily appreciate the core of its humour, it is a highly entertaining watch regardless. 

Published August 9, 2026 by Katie Paulus