As a ‘Mad Man’ myself, for over 40 years, this show was an intriguing draw. But you know how it is, TV series’ that fictionalise your profession, no matter what it is, invariably alienate the people who know it best. Police officers hate procedurals, nurses hate medical shows. Me? I didn’t like Mad Men.

But pre-show nerves were quickly quelled when American real life Mad Man, turned actor and writer, Steven Phillips-Horst, took the stage. He knows his stuff. Every reference to ad agency life. The affectations, the jargon, the bullshit – all are nailed in the first act of this highly original show.

It’s a brief from God (maybe). Create a strategy, name, strapline and campaign for… The Apocalypse.

This is a gift from Heaven (although it soon becomes Hell) as Steven has done this all before, most notably for plus size ladies pleather boots manufacturer – Plussy. So impressed is Plussy with his work that he has a lifetime subscription to their fatty-pattaty boots that keep arriving by courier throughout the show. They’re shoepreneurs.

Phillips-Horst is an accomplished performer. He has a hot tech by his side and he has a script that he can really play with.  It dips a touch in the second act, but comes back fighting in the third. He also has a lot of great one-liners in his repertoire.  As a mad man he boasts that he can sell, ‘Gin to a muslim and foreskins to a Jew’.

He’s also deeply suspicious, as we all are, of AI.  It could sure write the line, ‘Enjoy Snapple’, but where else can it go?

This is an interesting exploration of the ‘power’ of advertising but it also delves deeply into Steven’s sexuality and the fact that this has not sat squarely with his bullying and homophobic father. The added element of greenwashing as a theme of the show, a monster of the marketing profession, means that as the play progresses we are forced to deal with three seperate narrative strands and it starts to unwind a little.

There’s no doubt that Steven Phillips-Horst is a considerable talent, and this is a show that has great promise for a longer life. And, yes, Mad Men are maybe the evil horsemen of the Apocalypse, because we created the consumerism that killed the planet.

Whatever. But, we were only following orders.

The Last Mad Man has finished its run