Raw Gods musical to have development showcase in Shoreditch

A new musical based on experiences in the care system will have a showcase next month.

Raw Gods, penned by Hartley Lloyd Pack, son of the late actor Roger Lloyd Pack (Only Fools and Horses) in collaboration with Richard Day, Jamie Rodigan and Adiktive, blends rap, hip hop, drill, grime, and gospel. It tells the story of Sammy and Jay, teenage best friends bound by life in care. It is directed by Basheba ‘Bashiie’ Baptise, a care-leaver who runs theatre charity Care to Culture.

The cast for the showcase, taking place at Hoxton Hall on 2 December 2026, will include Dia Peters (Boyhood), Nkechi Simms (Top Boy), and acclaimed Jamaican-Irish rapper and singer JayaHadADream (Mobo Award nominee for Grime Artist of the Year 2026 and winner of Glastonbury’s 2024 Emerging Talent Competition). The performance is accompanied by live instrumentalists and a six-strong care leavers choir.

The show has been shaped with creative consultation from Olivier Award-winning director Matthew Xia and dramaturgy by Cardboard Citizens artistic director Chris Sonnex.

Lloyd Pack said today: “Through my work with young people in Hackney, I’ve seen how much humour, creativity and determination can exist alongside incredibly difficult circumstances. I wanted to write something that makes room for all of that. Sammy and Jay have dreams, they make mistakes, and they have a friendship that means everything to them. Music is where they can say what they really feel and imagine a different future. Developing Raw Gods with care leavers and young people in care has been essential to finding that voice.”