The Last Girl There - Edinburgh Fringe 2026

Theatre Talk Scotland

Aug 25

2 min read

The Last Girl There begins with a university student found dead in her flat and three friends left at the centre of what happened that night. With no obvious intruder and questions quickly beginning to mount, the story works backwards through their relationships, conversations and secrets as we begin to piece together what really happened.

There is plenty within the story to keep you engaged. The writing slowly feeds the audience information rather than giving everything away immediately, allowing our understanding of the characters and their relationships to shift as the piece progresses.

The three female performers are good, particularly when playing opposite one another. There is a natural chemistry between them that helps sell the history between these characters, and some of the production’s strongest moments come when the focus is simply on their relationships and the tensions developing between them.

Where The Last Girl There struggles more is in some of the choices surrounding the action.

The production regularly splits the stage, with the main scene taking place in one lit area while other characters remain in darkness elsewhere. Those characters continue to live within the scene, moving, drinking water and reacting even when the focus has shifted away from them.

I can understand what the direction is trying to achieve. Keeping everyone present gives the production a sense that the world continues beyond whichever conversation we are currently watching. For me, though, it becomes more distracting than effective.

Movement naturally draws the eye, and there were several occasions where I found myself watching a character drinking water or moving positions in the darkness rather than concentrating on the dialogue happening under the lights.

It is an interesting directorial choice, but one that ultimately works against the scenes it is trying to support. In a production where so much depends on following conversations and picking up on small details, having competing action elsewhere onstage makes it harder to know exactly where your attention should be.

The performance I attended also had a few sound issues, with a noticeable buzz coming through the speakers at points throughout the show. It didn’t stop the production in its tracks, but in a piece which relies on building atmosphere and tension, it was difficult not to notice when it happened.

There are things to enjoy in The Last Girl There, particularly in the relationships between its female characters and in the gradual way the story reveals itself. It held my attention and gave me enough to want to know where the story was heading.

Ultimately, though, it was some of the smaller details that stopped me from becoming completely absorbed in it.

The Last Girl There has plenty going for it, but some distracting staging and technical issues mean the tension never quite lands as strongly as it should.

The Last Girl There plays at TheSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall until 28th August.

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https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/the-last-girl-there