Welcome to Pemfort – Soho Theatre

It was a pleasure to visit the vibrant and buzzing Soho Theatre. It’s an intimate venue where you feel closely connected to the work, and Welcome to Pemfort made full use of that proximity.

Some of the Cog team, in Dean Street before the show.

Set inside the charming gift shop of Pemfort Castle (“…more of a fort”, as the running joke had it), Welcome to Pemfort follows a small team of staff working to organise a ‘Living History’ event in the hopes of bringing new life to the grounds and the village that surrounds. We were greeted by so much charm, both in the set and in the nods to small town energy through inside jokes and quirks that quickly drew us in.

The set design was impressive and gave the shop a whole character of its own. It was intricately detailed and so full of things, managing to avoid a formulaic or overly put-together feeling. Instead, it captured the slightly cluttered, genuine nature of a real space, adding to the authenticity of the world.

The impressively clutter-filled, gift shop set.

From the outset, the cast’s chemistry was undeniable. The relationships felt immediate and believable, with each character feeling so perfectly cast. Shop manager Uma brought a steady, nurturing presence; Glenn, his sense of order and practicality; Ria, a softer, more easygoing energy; and Kurtis arrived looking to find his footing. There was something special in watching guarded dynamics soften into vulnerability as the characters began to open up to one another.

The play balanced light-hearted humour with a much heavier undercurrent. Through the warmth and trust it had built, it began to explore deeper questions around justice, rehabilitation, and whether second chances can ever truly be found, and deserved.

Kurtis was easy to warm to when we first met him. We learned he had spent time in prison and was at Pemfort to try for a fresh start. I also found myself with an increasing soft spot for Uma, who was so devoted to fostering a place for second chances, especially as we learned more about a complex past of her own.

But then everything shifted.

In an abrupt, pivotal moment, we came to understand the reality of Kurtis’ past actions. The tone pivoted, and suddenly the questions at the centre of the play felt much heavier. The tension between who someone is now and what they’ve done in the past sat uncomfortably.

The rest of the play carried a clever push and pull of moral tension that never quite allowed you to land on one side or the other and was never fully resolved.

Transitions between scenes happened in dim, partial light, which felt like an effective symbol of transparency, where nothing was ever fully hidden, whether from the other characters or from the past itself. This gave even more impact to the single transition that took place in complete darkness.

The cast of Welcome to Pemfort take their well deserved applause.

I was really impressed by this production and the emotional journey it took us on. By the end, I wasn’t necessarily hoping for a specific outcome or resolution, but I was certainly hoping there was still more to come.

The end of the journey left at least two of the cast in floods of genuine tears. They must have been emotionally exhausted by the time we gave them our thunderous applause.

Welcome to Pemfort is a warm, funny and deeply heartfelt piece that quietly unfolds into something far more complex and dark, leaving you to sit with its questions long after you’ve left the theatre.

Illustration by Adam Doyle for our Cultural Calendar.