The Final Episode ****

Carly (Kathryn Mincer) sits alone, nervously broadcasting to the outside world. An agitated man pounds at the door. She is fraught, but determined to complete The Final Episode of her podcast.

We rewind just six weeks to find the same woman in a quite different state: confident and amiable, at the outset of her launch into broadcasting work. With modest expectations, she is surprised to realise that she has, somehow, tapped into a cultural mood. Her audience numbers surge beyond one million; she has become a viral sensation.

Be careful what you wish for.

Despite her aspirations at being a bona fide journalist, her podcast is simply propagating conspiracy theories. She is contacted incessantly, online and in person, receiving countless messages from an elderly doctor, that she has exposed as being a deep-state Government stooge.

Events spiral rapidly and dramatically for Carly. There is a vigil for “victims” of this supposed Government plot, at which the doctor implores the masses to abandon their campaign against him. The cult-like crowd, however, turn on him. As the scenes descend into chaos, Carly, who has invented the whole affair for ratings, realises that she must bring these events to a halt in The Final Episode.

Kathryn Mincer’s performance is assured and layered. The change in her demeanour across the weeks is beautifully conveyed. Her earlier ambition and swagger give way to uncertainty, regret, resignation and acceptance. A more polished version of this production is probably waiting to emerge, both in the staging and the script, but Mincer’s performance promises much for the future.

There are shades of Our Man In Havana in KD Film Productions’ cautionary tale; Grahame Greene’s novel alluded to the dangers of misinformation, half a century or more before the phrase ‘fake news’ entered the lexicon.

There is little doubt that the world is becoming a more fractured place. Opinions and conspiracy theories reverberate in online echo chambers. Influencers have more followers than mainstream television channels, paying little heed for any requirement to verify sources of information. Leading politicians are happy to amplify falsehoods, playing to a niche audience.

While, chillingly, this production shines a light on information in today’s society, some things never change; it was more than 300 years ago when Jonathan Swift noted that “a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes”.