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Level Up!

 
Laura Tucker Review by Laura Tucker 3 Published: 9 Aug 2025 Gilded Balloon Patter House Show Dates: 30 Jul 2025-25 Aug 2025

Level Up!, with its youthful cast and high-level concept, feels like a rookie player tackling hard mode – all ambition and big ideas, but lacking the prowess.

An ambitious musical stuck between cheat mode and crash screen

“Life: the video game” sees three friends – Jo, Raff and Bobby – sucked into a games console where each must forge their own path through a surreal, challenge-filled virtual version of Life: Jo hacks the game’s coin system, Raff flings herself into the quest of saving the world, and Bobby becomes a conceptual artist after losing his purpose.

Along the way – passing a dizzying parade of musical songs – we leap from climate collapse to crypto profiteering, with even a dedicated number about Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of Bitcoin. To give credit where it’s due: it’s probably the clearest (and catchiest) explanation of crypto-mining you’ll ever hear.

Guiding the three mates through ‘Life’ is a trio of game assistants – a cheesy, toe-tapping chorus who act as both commentators and chaos agents. Their presence is pure panto, and it works, in a knowingly silly way. But the show’s shifting tone is hard to keep up with – one moment earnestly rhyming about the state of the planet, the next leaning into market crash explainers, then suddenly breaking into a Texan-themed line dance.

The cast as singers are vocally impressive, though lack the full-bodied commitment required for the show to level up, unsure – like us – whether they’re in a brilliant cringe-embracing satire or a slightly cloying student revue.

There’s no doubting the ambition here – it’s an elaborate mash-up of musical theatre, gamer culture and economics lesson. The LED screens were a neat investment, but its young, inexperienced cast, already overstretched with a full album of concept songs – seems ready to buckle under the weight.

Still, if you’re up for a meta-musical with a crypto crash course, a climate change cautionary tale, and a musical dance break or two – Level Up!’s creators may inspire you to press “continue”.

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The Blurb:

What if life were a game? In a world where billionaires race to colonise space, Trump coins give you extra lives and making cows meditate saves the planet, it can be hard to know if you're winning. Jo, Raff and Bobby are three gamers stuck in the game of life. Jo's into crypto, Raff wants to save the planet and Bobby just wants a quick win. Who has what it takes to Level Up?