Night City – Southwark Playhouse Borough, London

The gig economy is under investigaton in Max Wilkinson’s new play Night City, on now at the Southwark Playhouse Borough.

Night City

The gig economy. Freedom! Flexibility! Be your own boss! But also: Exploitation! Insecurity! No safety net! It’s one of those things many of us increasingly choose to look away from, I think. If we use ride-sharing apps or get food delivered or purchase someone’s time through an app for cleaning, caring, etc., it’s with something of an understanding that both the worker and the customer are being exploited. Surge pricing and star ratings. That thing I read about how, if your phone is low on battery, the price goes up because they know you’re desperate. But what are you going to do?

Night City puts the gig economy under the microscope. It follows driver Jack (Jack Ambrose), waitress Tia (Bex Smith) and care worker Tamara (Helena Pipe). All three are doing work they have chosen, and have the capacity to succeed in. Jack initially loves the freedom and flexibility of working within the gig economy. But, as Night City shows us, it’s good when it’s good, but really bad when it’s bad. The three actors also take on multiple additional roles to flesh out a story in which private equity companies turn the screws to extract profits, while the people actually keeping the economy running suffer.

Writer Max Wilkinson has talked about how the climax towards which Night City is rushing from the outset, a terrible accident on the Old Kent Road, takes inspiration from a real tragedy whose aftermath he witnessed some years ago. We know that shift work negatively impacts health, and that the added pressures of the gig economy pile on risk-taking and poor decision making. The weaving together of our three characters’ stories to reach that climactic and dramatic scene drives much of the plot. Alongside it runs a steadily expanding conspiracy involving the misuse of technology and union busting in the name of ever greater profits.

Night City Delivers on Drama

I don’t dispute the broad strokes of Night City. Our devices are definitely listening to us. Even Google has dropped the motto “Don’t be evil”. But, for me, the ambitious scope of Night City led to a slightly uneven result.

I saw this both in the writing and in some of Ebenezer Bamgboye’s directorial choices. There are moments of genius in the writing of some of the characters – Gigi, for instance, is a consistent scene-stealer – but the odd line drifts towards cliché. I was also not able to suspend my disbelief quite enough for the final court scenes. I wanted the judge to get a grip on her courtroom. In terms of the direction, the choice to stage several conversations with one actor centrally located and the other walking the perimeter of the set diluted, in my opinion, opportunities for the actors to react to each other in the moment.

Looked at another way, Night City is arguably Brechtian in its rejection of the illusion of theatre, focus on political issues, and direct address of the audience. Olivia Jamieson’s set design is a very literal cage which constraints naturalistic movement. Changes between scenes consist of jarring movement sequences that stop the audience getting too comfortable. Helena Pipe’s musical contributions are perhaps another Brechtian device drawing our attention to what’s important. I think what I’m saying is there’s a fine line sometimes between artistic choices working or not landing. But I do still appreciate risk-taking in theatre. If anything, I think the other play I’ve seen by Wilkinson, Union, worked a little better for me by going even further.

Overall, what will stay with me from Night City is the reminder to focus on the people who keep a city running. It’s easy to get caught up in headlines and debates about economic growth and technological advancement and the other utilitarian messages we hear from both major companies and start-ups. But when essential services come to us via unsustainable models, one way or another something’s got to give.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3/5

Night City on until 3 October 2026. More info and tickets here.