Review: THE LEARNING LOTTERY, VAULT Festival

Is Britain a functioning meritocracy? Many try to argue that it is, but research states otherwise. Starting from recent studies and using real figures, Upstart Theatre urge the audience to take matters into their own hands and decide for themselves by playing The Learning Lottery, a "fast-paced, high-stakes game show" that determines the future of three children. Sorted into teams upon arrival, the players will choose the fate of their characters. If you still had doubts, it's soon evident that meritocracy is a myth.

From a simple name having the power to skew the perception and expectations of a pupil to the unconscious bias related to someone's background, it feels like a lost battle. Showing enthusiasm for a lesson can be perceived as threatening behaviour and standing up for oneself might land you in detention. The chain of reactions seems arbitrary at the start but becomes geared toward racism and classism as well as disability.

Katurah Morrish and Tom Mansfield - writer and director, respectively, but also performers - paint a depressing picture with strokes of undeniable joy. While Mansfield looks like a game-show host, Morrish is a children's television presenter, all cheery voice, bright clothes, and hair up in space buns. Together, they are "an illusion of social mobility". The bleak subject is even darker against their lively, overexcited delivery.

Every wrong answer remove points from the players, who have to compete in spelling bees, P.E. practices, and Jenga. As the game winds down, one of our kids has been illegally removed to prevent his lower scores from affecting the school's statistics and subsequent funding, another one has become a brilliant botanist, and the remaining boy is also doing alright.

In a country where merely being an Oxbridge student opens doors regardless of one's performance, it's unsurprising that the root of the problem can be found at a primary and secondary level. It's even more disheartening to see that there is no quick fix to make sure students are supported and judged on their results rather than their appearance. The Learning Lottery is a bitter pill to swallow.

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