Night City, Southwark Playhouse Borough

(Photo Credit: Lidia Crisafulli)

A taxi driver, a waitress and a carer are all fighting to thrive whilst neck deep in London’s gig economy. Sometimes all it takes is one fatal mistake to crush dreams to dust. Based on real lived experiences, ‘Night City’ explores the vast intersection between profit and people.

The run at the Southwark Playhouse Borough ‘Little’ (from the tenth of September until the third of October) the marked the show’s official debut.

It must be said that the design of this show is incredibly slick, Olivia Jamieson’s minimalistic set, consisting of chains hanging down from the ceiling, combines with Arnim Friess’s sharp lighting to give an effect that can best be described as an oil spill lit by street lights. It’s cold and unforgiving but there’s a metallic beauty to it and it really suits the setting of the show. Its also open enough to allow the direction to make the most of a limited stage space, whilst maintaining a sense of claustrophobia, which becomes increasingly relevant to the story.

So the story itself? At its core it’s brilliant and absolutely worth telling. It’s an honest cry out to the world about the realities of working zero hours/freelance and how the systems that are put in place to supposedly help the workers don’t actually work at all, especially when they become entangled with backwards politics. The battle against these obstacles becomes enhanced by the repeated ties and chains visual suffocation metaphor- one of the most brilliantly uncomfortable elements of the show- and reminds me a lot of the Sisyphus myth.

The cast (consisting of Bex Smith, Helena Pipe and Jack Ambrose) is ideal. Each one of them conveys the burdens and hopes of their characters with grace, dignity and great respect, clearly showing the desire to keep in mind the realities that inspired their characters given that the show is autobiographical.

(Photo Credit: Lidia Crisafulli)

‘Night city’ has so, so, so much promise, but unfortunately this show doesn’t feel stage ready yet.

Max Wilkinson’s writing does a great job at establishing varied characters and it’s clear that the piece is full of passion and care for the subject. However, the sheer amount of over writing means the piece comes across as frequently underestimating its audience. A lot of over explanation about matters which could be shown through the direction, fundamentally undermines the dramatic tension potential causing the show to stagnate at various points. I begin to question if the courtroom drama is really needed considering that it stands out like a sore thumb against the majority narrative meanwhile there is a heart stopping moment beforehand that feels like the natural end point of the show. Does the courtroom need to be there to create an intersection between the character narratives or is it possible that they don’t need to intersect considering how well they work as stand alone stories?

Additionally, I struggle to see the purpose of having moments of sensory overload without distinct justifications for them.

The show is an hour and forty minutes with no interval and even given my time blindness, I unfortunately find myself wondering if the show could be condensed down to be more gripping.

Ultimately this show was the epitome of the phrase ‘so close and yet so far’. I think with further development it could easily be a five star hit, it just needs more time to grow.

*** Three Stars

Age rating: Fourteen plus

Content notes: Mentions of illness and suicide, poverty/class struggle/classism, ableism, a car accident, references to/depictions of Alzheimer's/Dementia, healthcare/systemic issues, visual metaphor of suffocation, use of chains, depictions of violence, references to death, sex, abortion, miscarriage and drugs.