REVIEW: The Late Utopians, COGGIA, EdFringe 2026 ★★★★★

In the aftermath of the pandemic, did we take anything away besides the body bags in the streets? Alfie Jones’ daring, near-surgical script hones in on the post-COVID rave scene of Brooklyn through its diligent, introspective portrayal of a journalist on the brink. Much more, however, it captures something universal through this lens – privileged part-time hedonists coming face-to-face with the consequences of decades of political inaction and instability, learning that the roots of their ideology may both make and break them. The Last Utopians is a captivating, intrepid one-woman play masterfully performed by Lilly Walker, capturing a counterculture zeitgeist that offers no relent.

It felt poignant to be watching this piece less than 24 hours after Luigi Mangione admitted to killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. In Jones’s story, Emma finds herself confronted with a network of people seeking to build an underground reality that is not just escapism, but world-building itself. What does it take to build that world? What toll on our mind and on our senses? Emma darts between smoky club backrooms and neon-lit parking lots, trying to unravel the truth of her elusive situationship with career clubber Mark. The lure of the night is not all that consumes him, as it soon turns out, and we are asked poignant questions about how to build a salient future that serves all not just in equity, but also in sanity.

Futurism underpins Jones’ convincing and self-aware narrative, in which there is equal parts satire on Mark’s grunge-footed grassroots leftism with Emma’s more liberal sensibilities. It is not a question of when change happens, but rather what it looks like, in a world that seems to have met a stupor with its humanity. Gritty club nights in abandoned Bushwick warehouses offer the fertile grounds of psychedelic-fuelled philosophy for a new politics. Emma doesn’t believe Mark can affect the change he eschews, and yet, as her investigations both into him and herself deepen, praxis imbues with crisis, and an irreversible course of events is set in place.

Walker provides an electrifying, refined, and poised performance. Emma is a fully-formed and fascinating lead, but it is in her many turns standing in for others in the narrative that she excels at fuelling the narrative. Every person, be it Emma’s young nephew or an unnamed club-goer in a dingy corner, is a defined character, with their own manner of standing, speech affectations, and impact on the story. Tight direction from writer-director Jones offers an unflinching repose, in which the annals of a club become the womb of an uncertain future, and the bright light of day bares down on each of these nighthawks with all its sobering clarity. It is as much a character study of the grassroots as it is a portrait of a world on the verge of something equal parts better and worse.

Pungent, incisive visual design punctuates the piece – with vivid lighting design from the ineffable Fringe aficionado Angelo Sagnelli delighting all of the senses, in tandem with pulsating soundscapes and thumping techno music from Babys. Recognition of the origins of techno from Queer and Black Voices permeate the script with rich purpose, a bright and clear addition to a well-rounded story. There’s an unrelenting sensation to the entire setup that traverses settings with ease, thanks to minimalist yet impressive set design from Theso Vasiloudes in the form of three large speaker boxes morphed into different spaces and times.

Nearly at the halfway point at the festival, I don’t hesitate to say this will be a highlight of the Fringe’s new writing offerings for 2026. Jones elucidates a world that feels equal parts distant and tangible, brought to life in formidable form through Walker’s sensational performance. This is drama at its fullest form – graphic, vulnerable, and salient.

Recommended Drink: Whatever you need to see the sunrise over a Bushwick warehouse after a long night of partying.

You can catch The Late Utopians at Underbelly, Cowgate – Iron Belly until August 30th (not the 18th) from 14:10 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.