'A woman has entered the chat' - this is the tag line of The Last Incel, a new play coming to Dublin's Smock Alley Theatre, running from April 23 - 27.
Developed at the Scene + Heard arts festival, the dark comedy will invite an over-18s audience to log into the world of Incels, and click through the darkest tabs of the internet.
Written and produced by Jamie Sykes, the show stars Fiachra Corkery, Niall Johnson, Jackson Ryan, and character comedian GoblinsGoblinsGoblins, while comedian Justine Stafford will play the lone woman of the show.
Short for 'involuntary celibate', the term 'incel' refers to a online community of heterosexual men who have a deep-seated distrust of feminism and are typically hostile towards women due to the fact that they can't get a romantic or sexual partner despite wanting one.
Unsurprisingly, wanting a relationship with a person you fundamentally hate leads to a somewhat shaky belief system, one built upon a bizzare lexicon of phrases (wizards, aspie, femoid - to name but a few).
"The show is a farce and a satire of incel culture," says Sykes. "It's funny, first and foremost, but it's also exploring this toxic ideology and toxic philosophy that these guys have."
A familiar face on Dublin's alternative comedy scene, Jamie originally wrote the piece as a sketch, but the more he researched the subject, the more there was to delve into.
"It was so much darker and more tragic than I realised," he admits. "It's an ideology born from fear."
"They have this concept called the 'black pill' - kind of Matrix terminology - and taking the black pill means accepting that we live in a world where women only have sex with hot men, and if you're not hot then, no matter what you do, you'll never have sex. It's an ideology of hopelessness, which is very weird."
If these terms already have you confused, fear not; a glossary of terms will be provided on the night so everyone will be up to speed.
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Despite the wide variety of incel groups online, and the real world violence that can these forums can lead to, Sykes believes that it takes very little to "deradicalise" a member.
"There's a few documentaries about them, and by the end the person is usually not an incel anymore; it usually just takes a few 'real world' conversations," he says.
"It's kind of hilarious to not be able to have sex and then adopt an ideology that guarantees you will not be able to have sex. It makes your personality and your philosophy so unpleasant that no one will want to engage with you... but that's ultimately the point of it.
"The philosophy validates not engaging with life so that you don't have to face any rejection."
As an online comedian who has suffered her unfair share of misognistic trolling, Justine Stafford says that the play felt particularly appealing to her.
"In a way, this feels personal to me," says the comic, who has gained over 312k followers on TikTok alone thanks to her online sketches and characters (the 'creepy uncle' being a particular fan favourite).
"With stand-up comedy, you get heckled," she continues. "With online comedy, you get 1,000 negative comments under every video, with people telling you to kill yourself. The internet can be wonderful but there's a downside to it, and I think the play is a great vehicle to show that side - but with humour."
Although she deals with a lot of troubling behaviour online, Stafford says that hearing the language from the mouths of her castmates was an odd but cathartic experience.
"Some of what they say is horrific, but, unfortunately, it is accurate," she explains. "But usually I'm on my own dealing with these things, so working with people was actually so lovely for me.
"It's lovely working with the lads, they're so funny - I'd honestly love to be in the audience because there performances are so good."
Despite the heavy subject matter (sexual assault, sexual violence, and self-harm will be referenced), the play will have some surprisingly light moments - some that even the actors didn't expect.
"I was not ready for the dance numbers," laughs Justine. "That's the real darkness for me in this whole thing - as someone with three left feet. If an incel does come to the show, they'll probably go online and troll my dancing. I feel like I'm drinking deep-heat at this stage."
Dance numbers and wizards aside, the 60-minute play aims to offer a message of hope to those who have embraced an ideology of fear.
"I think the play is trying to get into the idea that even if you're labelled an incel, there's still a possibility to change," says Justine. "Life doesn't have to be forever like this."
Tickets cost €19 an can be bought online from Smock Alley Theatre - click here for more info.
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