--- title: "Diary of a Mad Man | Assembly Festival" meta: "og:description": "Diary of A Mad Man is a darkly comic one-man drama tracing the psychological collapse of a corporate worker whose status craving mutates into obsession. Adapted from Nikolai Gogol and relocated to contemporary Ireland, the play immerses us inside a mind where professional failure breeds paranoia, rage and terrifying logic. Consumed by race, hierarchy and fixation on his CEO’s daughter, his inner voice grows seductive, persuasive and lethal. As reality fractures, the audience becomes trapped inside his reasoning, forced to confront how ambition corrodes identity and madness feels disturbingly justified, dark, funny and deeply unsettling." "og:title": "Diary of a Mad Man" "twitter:description": "Diary of A Mad Man is a darkly comic one-man drama tracing the psychological collapse of a corporate worker whose status craving mutates into obsession. Adapted from Nikolai Gogol and relocated to contemporary Ireland, the play immerses us inside a mind where professional failure breeds paranoia, rage and terrifying logic. Consumed by race, hierarchy and fixation on his CEO’s daughter, his inner voice grows seductive, persuasive and lethal. As reality fractures, the audience becomes trapped inside his reasoning, forced to confront how ambition corrodes identity and madness feels disturbingly justified, dark, funny and deeply unsettling." "twitter:title": "Diary of a Mad Man" description: "Diary of A Mad Man is a darkly comic one-man drama tracing the psychological collapse of a corporate worker whose status craving mutates into obsession. Adapted from Nikolai Gogol and relocated to contemporary Ireland, the play immerses us inside a mind where professional failure breeds paranoia, rage and terrifying logic. Consumed by race, hierarchy and fixation on his CEO’s daughter, his inner voice grows seductive, persuasive and lethal. As reality fractures, the audience becomes trapped inside his reasoning, forced to confront how ambition corrodes identity and madness feels disturbingly justified, dark, funny and deeply unsettling." --- # Diary of a Mad Man [**← **Back to What's On](https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on) [ ![Diary of a Mad Man](https://assemblyfestival.com/_vercel/image?url=https:%2F%2Fassemblyfestival.pazaz.studio%2Fassets%2F022c6e40-a19e-4a23-a406-0aec4694d157?width=360%26height=360%26format=webp&w=1536&q=100) # Diary of a Mad Man Diary of A Mad Man is a darkly comic one-man drama tracing the psychological collapse of a corporate worker whose status craving mutates into obsession. Adapted from Nikolai Gogol and relocated to contemporary Ireland, the play immerses us inside a mind where professional failure breeds paranoia, rage and terrifying logic. Consumed by race, hierarchy and fixation on his CEO’s daughter, his inner voice grows seductive, persuasive and lethal. As reality fractures, the audience becomes trapped inside his reasoning, forced to confront how ambition corrodes identity and madness feels disturbingly justified, dark, funny and deeply unsettling. ## Enhanced Performances - Diary of a Mad Man _Captioning performances involves displaying synchronised dialogue, lyrics and sound effects as text on screens or devices during live shows. This may be beneficial for people who are D/deaf or hard of hearing, people with learning disabilities and anyone who's first language is not the same as the language the show is performed in._ --- **Captioned By:** Louisa McDaid **Captioning Type: **Open --- Performance Dates - Thursday 20th August ## Show Trailer [![Video thumbnail](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ICBGLr4Q4PE/sddefault.jpg)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICBGLr4Q4PE) ##### Show Trailer [ ## You may also like [](https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/sammy-ko) Comedy #### **Sammy KO** 19 Aug 2026 17:35 **Assembly George Square** [Book Now](https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/sammy-ko/performances) [ [](https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/clive) Theatre Dark Comedy New Writing #### **Clive** 06-30 Aug 2026 16:55 **Assembly Rooms** [Book Now](https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/clive/performances) [ [](https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/gearoid-farrelly-no-pressure) Comedy #### **Gearóid Farrelly: No Pressure** 05-31 Aug 2026 19:20 **Assembly George Square Studios** [Book Now](https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/gearoid-farrelly-no-pressure/performances) [ [](https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/skank-sinatra-how-to-succeed-in-show-business) Cabaret and Variety Comedy Music #### **Skank Sinatra: How to Succeed in Show Business Without Really Trying** 06-30 Aug 2026 18:30 **Assembly George Square Studios** [Book Now](https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/skank-sinatra-how-to-succeed-in-show-business/performances) [ ### **Follow Us** ### **Sign up to our newsletter** ## **THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS, SPONSORS AND PARTNERS** [![The City of Edinburgh Council](https://assemblyfestival.pazaz.studio/assets/d379ddbf-66cc-4bb3-909e-c524a9e673ac?width=400&height=200&fit=inside&format=png)Visit The City of Edinburgh Council website](https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/) [![The Church of Scotland](https://assemblyfestival.pazaz.studio/assets/49185c32-3f2d-4eda-ae62-d01a3e04c659?width=400&height=200&fit=inside&format=png)Visit The Church of Scotland website](https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/) [![Essential Edinburgh](https://assemblyfestival.pazaz.studio/assets/bbd576d2-3705-41b9-94af-7dfe6f96b6b2?width=400&height=200&fit=inside&format=png)Visit Essential Edinburgh website](https://www.essentialedinburgh.co.uk/) [![The University of Edinburgh](https://assemblyfestival.pazaz.studio/assets/56257592-6b16-4180-9c7c-562de7a6cc0e?width=400&height=200&fit=inside&format=png)Visit The University of Edinburgh website](https://www.ed.ac.uk/) [![Inchs](https://assemblyfestival.pazaz.studio/assets/fb42cf05-8f22-4aea-8e08-24e008e57457?width=400&height=200&fit=inside&format=png)Visit Inchs website](https://www.inchscider.co.uk/) [![encore](https://assemblyfestival.pazaz.studio/assets/d961c754-dd20-40c1-b476-5369a4076745?width=400&height=200&fit=inside&format=png)Visit encore website](https://www.encore-emea.com/) [![Deltalive](https://assemblyfestival.pazaz.studio/assets/1ca2a489-690b-4b55-b16a-cd6d2e539d7c?width=400&height=200&fit=inside&format=png)Visit Deltalive website](https://deltalive.net/) [![Robe](https://assemblyfestival.pazaz.studio/assets/b21f6feb-a965-4482-b78a-4466a153d45b?width=400&height=200&fit=inside&format=png)Visit Robe website](https://www.robe.cz/) [![Matthew Clark](https://assemblyfestival.pazaz.studio/assets/1a437a3c-6fa6-4078-a071-17d0e0b860d0?width=400&height=200&fit=inside&format=png)Visit Matthew Clark website](https://www.matthewclark.co.uk/) [![The List](https://assemblyfestival.pazaz.studio/assets/86335248-6c14-4676-bcb8-291543a4c604?width=400&height=200&fit=inside&format=png)Visit The List website](https://list.co.uk/) [![Capital Radio](https://assemblyfestival.pazaz.studio/assets/71f29d18-debc-4592-8ae7-0aa4f5163117?width=400&height=200&fit=inside&format=png)Visit Capital Radio website](https://www.capitalfm.com/) ![Forth 1](https://assemblyfestival.pazaz.studio/assets/dc387b7e-8339-4d99-b9be-b1a256439563?width=400&height=200&fit=inside&format=png) [![Deputy](https://assemblyfestival.pazaz.studio/assets/7e02ca85-c474-41c6-bd00-beb95ab98ece?width=400&height=200&fit=inside&format=png)Visit Deputy website](https://www.deputy.com/gb) [![Lothian](https://assemblyfestival.pazaz.studio/assets/c55784eb-57f5-464e-8f82-ad0e480d3b30?width=400&height=200&fit=inside&format=png)Visit Lothian website](https://www.lothianbuses.com/) [![Edinburgh International Film Festival](https://assemblyfestival.pazaz.studio/assets/bf554013-50b4-4eb8-91df-aeaa7ef890ac?width=400&height=200&fit=inside&format=png)Visit Edinburgh International Film Festival website](https://www.edfilmfest.org/) [![Street Assist Edinburgh](https://assemblyfestival.pazaz.studio/assets/d64fb877-77c5-4c98-bd42-15db5069750c?width=400&height=200&fit=inside&format=png)Visit Street Assist Edinburgh website](https://www.streetassist.co.uk/)