Southwark Playhouse Elephant – until 13 June 2026
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
4****
The world premiere of the English-language version of Jishik Kim and Seungyeon Kwon’s hit musical at Southwark Playhouse Elephant is high energy entertainment.
Opening with alarms and news clips of civil unrest, the frenetic opening number sees the survivor heading to the bunker he has prepared for exactly this moment – the zombie apocalypse.
This is a one person musical, so exposition is presented using a mobile phone to record a video journal of life in the bunker – shown on screens above the stage. Inadvertent glitches with the signal cause freezes which add to the sense of chaotic doom. Shankho Chaudhuri’s set design is practical and the utilitarian grey evokes memories of underground adventures in zombie films. Cheolmin Cho’s lighting and Liam McDermott’s sound design provide disturbing reminders of the horrors the survivor would have to face if he left.
Once inside and safely locked in, the survivor uses the phone to show the future viewers their survival equipment but realises that they have not fully stocked the bunker. Quickly calculating a new calorie intake regime, they have enough food to survive for barely 6 months rather than the year they planned. The passing of time is marked with each video recording, and the plants being cultivated in the bunker are providing extra food – until a series of disasters mean no power, no air filtration, no water and no hope.
The second act gets darker – in all senses of the word – and with no power to use the phone, a teddy bear becomes the survivor’s confidante, with two-way conversations and arguments moving the plot along. Jethro Compton’s dramaturgy and Daljung Kim’s direction create a surprisingly dynamic show and Jishi Kim’s book, although using every cliché from zombie films, tells a very grounded and emotional story. His lyrics are witty and any clunky rhymes are easily forgiven as lost in translation. Seungyeon Kwon’s rock score is punchy and matches the emotional rollercoaster of the plot, with endearingly heartfelt ballads sprinkled throughout. Musical director Amy Hsu and the live band above the stage shine.
The role of the survivor is shared throughout the run by Nabi Brown and Lex Lee. Lee was performing on press night and was a joy to watch. Lee’s survivor’s descent from cocky and prepared to lost and panicked is beautifully judged, and the swift changes as sanity collapses are nuanced and natural. Lee is such a charismatic actor that you can’t help caring about this strange character, and his voice! Absolutely fantastic belting during the faster numbers, and heartbreakingly tender with the ballads.
The survivor’s encyclopaedic knowledge of film – types of zombies from different franchises are compared as they consider what is happening outside, the parallels of the bunker diet with The Martian are joked about – creates laughs and raises questions and the twist ending is signposted throughout. The twist comes after what could have been a gloriously heroic finale in its own right as the survivor decides to leave, but the musical ends on a quieter more intimately human note that has even more emotional impact.
This is definitely musical theatre marmite – but let yourself go with the zombie flow and discover the wonderful humanity of The Last Man.