Sometimes, the concept for a show isn’t the point of a show. Level Up! is, in theory, a musical comedy about video games and how life can be seen as one big game. Instead, what we get is the tale of three friends, Jo, Raff and Bobby, getting sucked into a video game, Tron style. And the only way to escape is to play to win. It’s about how life is complicated, even though on the face of it, the show seems to be about gaming.
Except not really, because each player is given their own goals, and they’re all sort of impossible. One is a business person, another an environmental campaigner and the third party member is called ‘an explorer’, but they mean artist or creator. The show then breaks down into three separate strands. One story is about how Bitcoin is a terrible investment of time and money, another is about how carbon tax credits are rubbish, and the gamification of charity work is morally suspect. Our third player seems to have a storyline about how art is its own reward, which revolves around a thinly veiled parody of Maurizio Cattelan’s banana duct-taped to a wall piece, The Comedian.
It all hangs together, though, in a sort of fever dream about the complicated nature of modern times. This is an ambitious show, but it is just a little bit lacking in terms of storytelling and ultimate message. Which is the point; life doesn’t actually have a neat message at the end either.
There are some lovely touches here. The show uses a bank of flat screens to introduce the gaming elements, and everything is colour-coded. A bundle of neat ideas, with some songs to make it all hang together. It’s fun, it’s flashy, definitely go and see if you can.
You can book tickets for LEVEL UP here, and find out more about future shows here.
