At the start of this year I decided to keep a record of every show I saw, but also to try and see a broader range of productions. Fitting into this criteria,  I found myself on Tuesday 18th March, in a small theatre café in Camden – The Libra – ready to watch a production by The Play Lottery.  

The Play Lottery was formed in 2024; writers are invited to submit their play via the website, and each month one is selected at random. Having worked in publishing, and written myself, I know how long it can take to gain interest in new writing, so this concept is fascinating to me. What is even more astonishing is that the chosen play this month – The Wolves of Saint Matthew’s by James Wood – went from being selected to being performed in less than a month and that included a significant reduction in words. This amount of work would usually take a lot longer than that.

I was expecting a read through of a play, but this was so much more than that. It was more like a one man show.  The casting was excellent, Alex Crook bringing Father Kit to life with conviction from start to finish, barely having a chance to catch his breath at times.  A microphone in the centre of the stage was used when he portrayed minor characters or even did sound effects. Superb talent here, and whilst I was keen to get some photos, I didn’t get many in the end, as I wanted to concentrate on the performance properly.

The writing was entertaining, I knew from the publicity that Father Kit was a Catholic priest who won a lot of money in a lottery but we discovered he had also got involved with some quite unsavoury characters along the way. Then there were also the parishioners, injecting their thoughts into the situation throughout.

I can’t imagine how it must feel, as a writer, to sit in an intimate space like this theatre café and hear an audience laughing in all the right places.  And laughter there was, despite the fact that Father Kit was on a particularly nasty decline throughout the play.  Some of his speeches towards the end of the show showed just how desperate he was feeling. This was gripping to watch.

The direction by Jessy Roberts was brilliant, starting with a hymn was one of the most unusual openings I have seen but like a good congregation we all got up and joined in. I thought this was such a good icebreaker and set the scene really well. The use of lighting and music was also perfect for the production.

All in all I can say I had a fantastic evening, I love the concept of The Play Lottery, I enjoyed seeing a brand new piece of writing performed and obviously seeing some fantastic acting as well.

There is also something rather charming about being in a small creative space and hearing the rumbling of the tubes as they go past.

I would definitely be interested in seeing the full version of this play in future, but I feel privileged to have experienced this production in this current form as well.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A huge thank you to Promised Land Productions for the gift of a ticket in exchange for an honest review.