In the new comedy musical Level Up!, three friends are accidentally uploaded into a video game, each of them prioritizing different objectives in order to survive. We asked writer Lucy Watson about this exciting new work.
How are your Fringe preparations going? What are you most looking forward to about this year’s festival?
We’ve entered that fever dream phase where every to-do list spawns three more to-do lists. Yesterday re-recorded sections of a track in the disabled toilet (great acoustics, actually!) and spent much of last night painting tokens – but spirits are high! We’re genuinely looking forward to seeing how audiences respond to a musical that’s a bit chaotic, a bit glitchy, and very much reflects the world we live in now.
What are the challenges of bringing a video game aesthetic into the medium of Fringe theatre?
Fringe venues aren’t exactly known for their VR headsets and holograms, so we had to get creative. The challenge was how to evoke a game world using what’s essentially plywood and good intentions. But maybe that limitation forced us into smarter, more theatrical choices. Our video wall does a lot of the work for us – but even so, it ends up being more like early 8-bit games: stripped back, surreal, and a little bit broken – in a good way!
The score includes 8-bit music. What was the process in creating this and how does it enhance the world?
We wanted to write music that felt like hope on a loading screen. There’s something strangely emotional about 8-bit sounds — they’re nostalgic, optimistic, and slightly melancholy all at once. The score is full of glitches, loops, and little earworms, but it’s also grounded in the emotional arcs of the characters. It lets us play with contrast: big questions set to cheerful bleeps, and jazz hands. It’s existential dread in a major key….
As we become more aware of how billionaires run the planet in a way that feels a whole lot like gamification, this show feels particularly topical. How did you balance the comedic tone with the real-world concerns for your audience?
We never wanted to write a lecture. We wanted to write a musical where the audience could laugh and occasionally go “Oh no, that’s real.” Satire works best when it doesn’t come from a place of superiority but from shared recognition. This current world is strange. The rules are confusing. I think everyone feels like the tutorial skipped something – and comedy helps us smuggle in the real stuff without shutting people down.
What are you hoping for audiences to take away from Level Up!?
I think the main message is that it’s okay not to be winning. That friendship matters more than metrics. That the game might be broken — but humanity isn’t. Not yet, anyway.
Level up! is playing at Gilded Balloon, Patter Hoos, 30 Jul – 25 Aug (Not 11 Aug) at 14:00
