Set against the backdrop of a collapsing UK right-wing government, At Last presents a chilling vision of an authoritarian, fascist regime determined to crush dissent and silence activism. Hackney is burning, London is rebelling, and ordinary families are caught in the crossfire of political oppression and state violence.
At the centre of the story is Marie (Demelza O’Sullivan) and her two young adult sons, Danny (Curtis Talbot) and Jack (Adam Halcro). Their lives unfold on opposite sides of the regime’s brutal machinery. The state has introduced mandatory ID cards, ostensibly harmless if you “keep your nose clean,” but in reality, a weapon of control. Checkpoints pepper the city, requiring citizens to prove their identity at every turn.
For Jack, a 21-year-old who loses his ID after a night out drinking with friends, the consequences are devastating. Arrested and tortured, he is dragged before the unyieldingly vicious magistrate, Asper (Tim Larkfield). The Justice of the Peace, a stereotypical yet all-too-believable embodiment of reactionary conservatism, sentences him to two years in prison – an example made in the name of “law and order.” Larkfield’s portrayal of Asper is deliberately unlikeable, a chilling reminder of how ideology can cloak abject cruelty in respectability.
Meanwhile, Danny takes a darker path: he is one of the Police officers carrying out the regime’s violence. The play forces us to confront the uncomfortable question of complicity, and what happens when members of a family stand on opposite sides of repression.
The world of At Last is governed by curfews, crackdowns, racism, bigotry and violence. Protesters risk their lives, forming underground networks of fake IDs, while others retreat into silence. When the regime eventually collapses, a public inquiry, the so-called Truth Commission, is convened to examine the abuse. Yet, like so many inquiries in British history, it finds no one accountable. Asper, granted amnesty, emerges with faint glimmers of conscience but ultimately reaffirms his belief that he was right all along, justifying his actions as service to the “good of the country.” His lack of remorse leaves a bitter taste, echoing the failures of real-world justice.
Among the cast, the standout performance comes from Nicole Elizabeth as the lawyer determined to uncover the truth. With compassion and conviction, she interrogates the fates of the tortured, the disappeared, and the broken families left behind. Her presence brings urgency and humanity to the play’s darker themes, grounding the political narrative in emotional truth.
The play closes on a haunting note: “we don’t know how to forgive, only how to forget”. It is a sobering reminder that when history is buried rather than reckoned with, it inevitably repeats itself.
At Last is a disturbingly timely and resonant production. In a political climate where democratic values often feel under siege, this play serves not only as theatre but as a warning – a mirror held up to society, asking whether we are vigilant enough to prevent such a future. Ignore the warning at your peril.
Review by Bernadette Lintunen
The old world has fallen and something brave and new has taken its place.
Out of the fire and rubble and the ashes something new is born. A chance to learn about the past and to discover who we were to save the future. A chance to find hope anew, or to tear open wounds which will never close again.
This is the story of ten years of hate. Ten years of oppression and anger when we gave ourselves up to the dark.
A story of the mother who fought for her broken sons, and the father that stood in judgement. The daughter willing to pay the ultimate price for freedom, the man who stood by and watched and the woman that listened.
This is the story of when the world went mad.
It is time to tell the truth, At Last.
Cast: Nicole Elizabeth (Grace), Tim Larkfield (Asper), Kim Scopes (Nikki), Demelza O’Sullivan (Marie), Curtis Talbot (Danny), Adam Halcro (Jack), Dominic Farrow (Colin)
Written by: James Lewis & Alexander Knott
Directed by: David Brady
Associate Director: Mark Conway
Co-Director (2019 Production): Jess Barton
AT LAST
Lion & Unicorn Theatre
2 to 13 September 2025
