Theatre review: The Last Man

Jishik Kim (book and lyrics) and Seungyeon Kwon's (music) The Last Man is the latest piece of K-culture to land in London, and it confirms something many a Netflix show has suggested over the years: South Koreans do like their zombies. Set in a semi-basement flat (designed by Shankho Chaudhuri) reminiscent of the one the family in Parasite lives in, The Survivor (Lex Lee, alternating with Nabi Brown) has converted it into a bunker in preparation for an apocalyptic event he's sure is coming. When it arrives in the form of the walking dead - which also just happens to be his favourite movie genre - he bolts himself in with an air purifier, a phone and a large supply of K-Pop Demon Hunters-branded cup noodles to keep him alive. Also running water and electricity which seem unaffected by the cataclysmic events outside.

There's a couple of clues like this from the start that maybe not everything is quite the way The Survivor describes it - his 360-degree tour of the solid, impregnable walls surrounding him also neglects to mention the very obvious, pavement-level window.

The most overt sign that we might be dealing with an unreliable narrator comes when his childhood teddy bear starts appearing in the bunker, in places The Survivor doesn't remember leaving him. He starts giving John Bear a voice as someone he can have a conversation with and break up the loneliness. This does allow Daljung Kim's production to move away from the conceit of his leaving video messages for future survivors on his phone, which has made the first twenty minutes or so of the show feel constricted.

As with the last South Korean musical I saw, there is a keen sense of this being quite a new genre there, that's still borrowing heavily from Western sources until it can find its own identity - Kwon's music feels particularly influenced by Jonathan Larson, and while Lee has a strong voice that can really belt them out, the big overwrought numbers don't really end up that memorable. And despite having had additional dramaturgy by Jethro Compton for its English-language debut, the story lacks much background to the character, with both songs and monologue focusing on what's happening in the present. It means the final twist manages to feel both predictable and unearned at the same time. Not that this isn't entertaining enough, but it did leave me with the feeling of something frustratingly undercooked.

The Last Man by Jishik Kim and Seungyeon Kwon is booking until the 13th of June at Southwark Playhouse Elephant.

Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes including interval.

Photo credit: Rich Lakos.