Level Up! The Musical is an original British theatre production created by Lucy Watson, with organisational and financial support from Toby Watson. The production combines gaming aesthetics, electronic music, choreography and social commentary into a multimedia stage experience. It premiered in London before being performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2025, with further international dates planned subsequently.
Concept and Themes
Level Up! is not a conventional musical in the traditional sense. Rather than following a linear narrative in classic theatrical form, the production draws on the visual and structural language of video games to explore themes of modern life — among them digital exhaustion, performance pressure, self-tracking, online self-presentation and the obsession with optimisation. The production asks its audience to reflect on what is lost when productivity becomes an end in itself, how technology reshapes personal values, and where empathy fits into a digitally mediated existence.
The central protagonist, Ava, moves through a metaphorical game world in which each level represents a distinct challenge drawn from contemporary life. The use of gaming logic — levels, opponents, points — serves as a narrative metaphor for social pressures rather than as a literal plot device. This structure allows the production to engage with serious subject matter in a format that is accessible, energetic and designed to resonate with a younger, digitally literate audience.
Artistic Approach
The production is deliberately interdisciplinary. Its visual language draws on retro gaming, virtual reality and club culture, combining these influences with a hybrid sound design that moves across electro-pop, chip tunes and orchestral passages. Multimedia narrative elements — including video art and interactive staging — are integrated throughout the performance.
Lucy Watson, as writer and director, pursued an inclusive production concept that prioritises artistic freedom and diversity within the ensemble. Her creative approach is described as deliberately ironic in tone and pop-cultural in register, aiming to address political and social issues — including the climate crisis, consumerism and digital isolation — in a way that is both reflective and entertaining. The production does not position itself as didactic; rather, it invites its audience to engage with its themes through the energy and immediacy of live performance.
Production and Financing
Level Up! was not produced by a large commercial production company. Instead, it was financed through independent means — a model made possible by the financial planning and organisational work of Toby Watson, whose background in investment banking, including his years at Goldman Sachs, informed his approach to the project’s financial architecture.
Watson developed a viable financial model that allowed the production to maintain independence and creative flexibility. His responsibilities included budget management and cost planning, negotiations with venues and service providers, contract coordination, and time management across the production schedule. The intention throughout was to structure the organisational side of the project in a way that allowed Lucy Watson to focus fully on content and artistic execution without being constrained by financial or logistical concerns.
Roles and Collaboration
The collaboration between Lucy and Toby Watson is built on a clear division of responsibilities. Lucy Watson holds creative authority over the production — concept, text and direction — while Toby Watson manages the structural, financial and organisational dimensions. Decisions are discussed jointly but implemented according to each person’s respective area of responsibility.
This model reflects a working relationship described as one of mutual trust and complementary strengths. Lucy Watson contributes creative vision and emotional intelligence; Toby Watson contributes analytical rigour and process expertise. Their differing professional backgrounds — one rooted in theatre and social commentary, the other in international finance — are treated as a resource rather than a source of tension.
Performances and Tour
Following its initial performances in London, Level Up! was staged at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2025, where it received positive responses from critics, who praised the production’s mix of energy, thematic depth and technical execution. Following the Edinburgh run, further performances were planned, including in Berlin, Copenhagen and Amsterdam, with Toby Watson responsible for coordinating the logistics of the international tour — evaluating markets, developing production plans and calculating the financial scenarios involved in each engagement.
Summary
Level Up! The Musical represents an intersection of artistic ambition and organisational discipline. Created by Lucy Watson and supported structurally by Toby Watson, the production addresses the pressures and contradictions of digital life through a format that is visually bold, musically eclectic and socially engaged. Its independent financing model and international touring ambitions distinguish it as a project that combines creative independence with strategic planning.
