REVIEWED BY ISLA TEAGUE
EDITED BY AZMY
Having never been to an improvised show nor participated in improvisation (apart from a horrifying moment in high school drama class), I wasn’t sure what to expect from Last Actor Standing’s competition to find the greatest actor in the world. Held in Club Voltaire, the black box theatre was tucked away, yet the foyer was full of colour, fun lighting, and comfy chairs that had me settling in right away. What I found in the theatre was not what I expected. Unlike a traditional theatre experience, us audience members were a significant part of the performance as our voting, commenting and reacting created a unique show that could not be replicated.
Last Actor Standing is a series of four competitions of four actors, where the winners are crowned ‘Greatest Actor in the World’ and are entered into a grand finale with all the winners of the previous performances for an epic showdown. I was lucky enough to watch their show on the 12th of June, the fourth show of the season featuring Joshua Bruce, Lilian Hudson, Jacob Kuek and last-minute substitute Ana Swadling. In addition to the brave improvisors, the show was guided by multi-talented host Noah Sargent, who with Jay Watts created, produced and wrote Last Actor Standing. To round out the writers table were Alex Watts and Pip Wiseman, and for production light and sound operator Myra Barber. Without the writers’ dedicated research for the trivia portion and comedically named plays for the final round, this performance would not have been as entertaining nor creative. Furthermore, Sargent’s funny and memorable hosting just added to the hilarity as essentially another cast member.
The exciting part about this semi-improvised performance was that each show is completely different. Last Actor Standing is made up of one warmup game and three elimination rounds, with each game differing from previous shows. Beginning with the warmup, the actors started monologuing on a topic like ‘the meaning of life’, and each actor would cut in and continue the speech until it derailed to New Zealand chocolate and its hallucinogenic properties. The first round was dubbed ‘Fictional Pursuit’ where various prompts would appear on the projector (like a random word or weird tech creation) and the actors were asked to give the wrong answer to bait other actors into selecting their answer as the correct one. Round two was called ‘Villains Journey’ where the three remaining actors had time to think up a dastardly villain and monologue on their evil plan. The last round presented the two actors with a title for a 30 second play, and they had to individually improvise their own interpretation of it. The actors (minus Swadling) were also using this show as advertisement for their upcoming performance of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind which similarly to the final round, has the performers showing 30 plays in 60 minutes, except without the improvisation element.
Of course, the performers were really the stars of the show, as improvisation provides no safety net of memory to fall back on. I was extremely impressed by their ability to think quickly on their feet, adapt and comment, always with a light-hearted tone. I never had a worry for the actors going blank on stage and they all felt extremely comfortable which allowed me to relax and enjoy their show.
Swadling, although eliminated first, was by no means falling behind as she went toe-to-toe creating hilariously wrong answers in round one and brought a lot of charm to all their guesses. Bruce’s vocalisations and embodiment as the villain Red Bull truly called me out as a slow walker, and his playful comments in the fictional pursuit round had me rolling. Kuek’s creative use of space, natural comedy and misleading answers surprised me at every turn, earning him a significant lead in the first round. In demonstrating the short play ‘That’s How It’s Done!’ he imitated Sargent as host and timekeeper to a tee, comedically using silence to earn himself many votes. And that leaves Hudson as the winner, whose bold physicality, clever quips and hilarious choices had me voting on her side throughout the show. Their subtle wordplay in the first round, detailed kidnapping plan as villain Wanoah (referencing the host Noah and the icon Wario) and expressive 30 second monologues were such a joy to watch onstage. Notably their interpretation of the play dubbed ‘PTV Waltz’ was appropriately dramatic for the absolute scam that is currently occurring in Melbourne.
Kuek and Hudson’s manipulation of the space and audience was as humorous as it was creative as they used all the tools at their disposal. Hudson’s ‘Pursuit of Knowledge’ play had them running around trying to gain names and favourite colours from all the audience members, while Kuek simply went off stage for his apt imitation of the ‘PTV Waltz’. An honourable mention goes to a particularly involved audience member Alex who supported Kuek’s villain monologue as Daniel, an improv performer who horrifyingly gets other people into improvising, and later in multiple of the 30 second plays as well. The continued involvement of the audience by the host and cast made the competition feel like a game between friends, including us watching, creating a space where everyone was welcome to poke a little fun at life. From giving us nods of approval at our reactions to directly asking us questions, the relaxed atmosphere worked perfectly for this style of show.
Creative, hilarious and a much-needed light-hearted night out after a busy exam period, Last Actor Standing felt like a night out with friends, although ones who were all too ready with a clever witticism. Even with an audience full of close friends and supporters of the company, I didn’t feel left out, rather clued into inside jokes as the talented cast brought out boisterous laughter with every monologue and quip. Still with one more performance this season on the 26th of June, you would be rogue to miss the finale!
Last Actor Standing was presented by Lost Theatre Company at Club Voltaire on 12 June 2026.
ISLA TEAGUE (they/them) is a dancer and performing artist from Melbourne/Naarm, participating in both community and university theatre scenes. Currently studying a Bachelor of Arts (Criminology) at University of Melbourne, they are in their first year of reviewing for The Dialog.
AZMY is a creative studying a Bachelor of Arts at UniMelb. This year, they are making theatre with The Werkz Emsemble and Cipta Theatre company!
The Dialog is supported by Union House Theatre
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