Existential comedy-drama coming to Louth Riverhead Theatre

Louth Riverhead Theatre boasts a special jewel in its crown. In collaboration with local professional theatre company Hambledon Productions, the venue has produced a new written play every year for over a decade.

Ranging from farces, musicals, rom-coms to deep-hitting dramas, the latest award-winning play is about to receive its fascinating and exciting world premier.

Make It Count is a beguiling three-hander — an existential comedy-drama about love, control, second chances and fate’s fine print. The ultimate question that it prevents to the audience is this: what would you change if you could live your marriage again… and what might you destroy by trying?

Lincolnshire playwright James Sweeney explained: “Last year, I took a course at [the theatre] led by playwright and producer John Hewer, which introduced writing for different forms. His focus was mainly theatre, and that’s where things really clicked for me.”

It has already recently been named Best Stage Play at the Best Script Awards this year, won Louth Riverhead Theatre Scratch Night by an audience vote in September 2025, was selected for a performance in London's off-West End venue The Bridge House Theatre in May 2026, and James is set to hold a staged reading of the script at Langham Court Theatre, Victoria, Canada in September 2026 with post-show Q&A afterwards.

In the play, 30-something-year-old Jonas dies unexpectedly and negotiates a second chance to relive the last 16 years of his life starting with the night he first met his wife Lily, who doesn’t know him yet, their marriage is suddenly something he has to earn—again.

Armed with knowledge of the future, he attempts to perfect their life — only to discover that control slowly destroys the love he is trying to save. Guided by the Grim Reaper’s well-meaning but inexperienced husband, the couple become trapped in a time loop where every “improvement” carries unforeseen consequences. James added: "Our lives are built from thousands of small moments, and changing even one of them can have consequences we never saw coming. That tension between wanting to improve the past and risking the loss of something valuable is a theme I really explore in the play."

Directed by John Hewer, who has squeezed the production in-between directing the world premier of Kenny! The Kenneth Williams Centenary Musical and the upcoming youth theatre's production of the evergreen hit Calamity Jane, champions the new script greatly. "It's wonderful to be working with such a passionate collaborator as James," John said. "He and his script are the driving force behind this production. The actors all have brilliant chemistry, and bring out all the qualities, and light and shade, of the strong script. Audiences are in for a very powerful, and very funny, evening."

So, what can audiences expect? "If you enjoy films like Groundhog Day, It’s a Wonderful Life or The Family Man, you’ll recognise some of the territory Make It Count operates in," explains James. "There’s plenty of humour, drama and emotion. My aim is that people come away feeling they’ve had a really good night out, but leave still turning the story over in their minds and wanting to talk about it afterwards."

The show starts at 7pm each night, Thursday June 18 - Saturday June 20. For tickets go to: https://www.ticketsource.com/louthriverheadtheatre/make-it-count-scratch-night-winner/e-xpymrl