The titular “Last Hero” and “Last Coward” are Scottish pastor John Harper and White Star Line director Joseph Bruce Ismay. Both were passengers on the Titanic and acquired their own legend from it. Harper, the story goes, was the courageous man of faith who apparently converted people even in the freezing water; and Ismay the coward who sank the ship with his desire to make the ship famous for her speed, surviving only by taking a place in a lifeboat that didn’t belong to him.
The truth is obviously more complicated, and Searchlight Theatre’s show (one of eight they are putting on this Fringe) brings the two men together rather than in juxtaposition, as men navigating (pardon the pun) family, society and each other. Ismay is not judged for his actions, and Harper is not made a stick to beat him with.
With a pile of abandoned luggage centre stage elegantly standing in for the missing passengers, the play flits back and forth between the inquest and events aboard ship, from waving goodbye to family, to conversations on deck, to church services and, of course, the final moments as the ship was going down.
The church setting works well for some of scenes, though the echo can sometimes interfere with the lines. The two actors playing Ismay and Harper/The Cross Examiner (the American accent is more successful than the Scottish one) are confident in their characters, playing both comedy and drama with aplomb.
Both Harper and Ismay are fascinating characters, in their different ways lost in one of the most famous tragedies of the twentieth century, and this show does an admirable job in bringing their stories to light and to life.
Running August 18th – 19th https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/titanic-the-last-hero-and-the-last-coward
Reviewer: Oliver Giggins
Reviewed: 18th August 2026
North West End UK / Theatre Muse UK Rating: