An aging actor fights to remember his lines, and himself, in one final performance.
An aging actor fights to remember his lines, and himself, in one final performance.
When the lines fade, the truth gets louder.
A once-celebrated Shakespearean actor steps onto an empty stage for one final audition. His chance to prove he can still command the role of King Lear and the life he’s built around the stage. Alone beneath the ghost light, Sebastian Drake begins to rehearse. But as the lines blur between performance and memory, his private demons and long-buried loves return to challenge him in ways no critic ever could.
A moving, darkly funny, and deeply human solo performance about pride, aging, and the fragile beauty of memory, The Last Audition invites the audience to witness a man fighting to hold on to the role of a lifetime, before the curtain falls.
A Story for Anyone Starting Again
You don’t need to know Shakespeare; you just need to know what it feels like to start over. This is a story for anyone who’s lost something, a role, a memory, a sense of who they were, and is brave enough to begin again.
It’s About Courage, Not Age
It’s not a play about growing old; it’s about refusing to give up. It’s about standing in the light, trembling maybe, but still stepping forward. Because sometimes the hardest role to play is yourself.
Actor’s Catnip
For theatre lovers and actors alike: live transformation, Shakespeare riffs, backstage confessionals, and no gatekeeping. It’s a love letter to performance itself, the messy, miraculous craft of being human in public.
Festival-Ready Pace
A tight 60-minute run. Big laughs. Real stakes. It’s moving, funny, and perfectly timed for a night of back-to-back Fringe discoveries.
Why Audiences Love It
Tour Dates
Upcoming Shows
Edinburgh, Scotland
Edinburgh Fringe Festival
August 5th to August 29th
@theSpace on the Mile, Space 3
(located within the Radisson Blu Hotel on the Royal Mile)
Book This Show
Tour timeline
- 🇨🇳 Beijing – Preview Performances
- 🇦🇺 Adelaide Fringe – Star Theatres / Garage International / Royalty Theatre
- 🇺🇸 NYC Fringe – Frigid Festival (Chain Theatre Mainstage)
- 🇨🇦 Montreal Fringe – O PATRO VÝŠ
- 🇬🇧 Edinburgh Fringe – theSpace on the Mile
Now booking 2027 UK, EU, Australia & North America.
Developed through live performance across Australia, North America, and the UK.
Technical overview
- Runtime: 55 minutes
- Touring party: 1 performer
- Tech: minimal
- Get-in: 15 minutes
- Set: chair + ghost lamp
- Lighting: general wash
Audience profile
- 50+
- Shakespeare lovers
- Literary audiences
- Care community crossover
- Theatre festivals
Press & Media Enquiries
For press and media enquiries regarding Last Audition, please contact Mobius Industries.
www.mobiusindustries.com
Kindle Edition
The Last Audition
Reinventing a Creative Life After 60
The Last Audition: Reinventing a Creative Life After 60 is a candid, clear-eyed account of what it means to begin again when time, health, and comfort all argue against risk.
After a cancer diagnosis abruptly ends a long period of professional stasis, actor and writer Paul Shearman is forced to confront a question many creatives quietly avoid: What if waiting is no longer an option? Rather than easing back into safety, he chooses something far more destabilizing — writing and producing a solo show and committing to a world tour that begins in Beijing and leads toward some of the world’s most demanding stages.
This book follows that decision in real time.
“This isn’t a play about dementia. It’s a play about dignity.”
— Paul Shearman
“This isn’t a play about dementia. It’s a play about dignity.”
— Paul Shearman
Onstage Moments
Cast & Crew
Writer/ Performer
Paul Shearman
Director
Voice Director
About Paul Shearman
Born into a military family in Virginia, raised in California, and educated in Oregon, I discovered theatre in high school and never let it go. Though I earned a degree in Political Science and International Affairs, the stage kept calling. Work in Washington, D.C. and NYC reignited a passion for performance across theatre, film, and television.
Donate now at Fractured Atlas!
The Last Audition is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.
Contributions for the charitable purposes of The Last Audition must be made payable to “Fractured Atlas” only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
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