Night City | Southwark Playhouse Borough

Just a few days in the past I noticed my first (and I assumed solely) “choreopoem”, a phrase coined by author Ntozake Shange to explain her work for coloured ladies who’ve thought of suicide/when the rainbow is enuf. I assumed it is likely to be a style of 1, however final evening, like London buses, one other one got here alongside. Night City additionally combines poetic dialogue and choreography – though this time, somewhat than telling the tales of a downtrodden group of Black American ladies, it shines a lightweight on the evening employees who are sometimes forgotten and whose tales are seldom advised.

Like Shange’s work, Night City makes use of a small group of actors to inform huge tales, using tune, music, highly effective lighting, sound design and costume. The distinction is that whereas the costumes for coloured ladies are awash with color, these in Night City are darkish, brooding and decidedly nocturnal.

Max Wilkinson’s new play (or is it a “choreopoem”?) tells the tales of Jack (Jack Ambrose), a hedonistic taxi driver; Tia (Bex Smith), a waitress with huge desires; and Tamara (Helena Pipe), a carer with an enormous coronary heart. Unlike for coloured ladies, Night City has a story, and though it isn’t advised in a linear style, every little thing ultimately comes collectively because the three characters discover themselves in the identical hospital on the identical evening. Along the best way we meet a myriad of different characters – a loopy previous woman, a nasty tech bro, Tamara’s rapper son and a predatory writer amongst them – all performed seamlessly by the three-strong forged.

All three central characters are struggling to outlive within the gig economic system, the place the cash is poor and zero-hours contracts are the norm. Jack has a drink downside, Tia is pregnant, and Tamara is going through eviction. Life isn’t a lot enjoyable for any of them; theirs is a tricky, precarious existence.

Wilkinson’s writing has a rhythm and cadence that drives the narrative at a cracking tempo, whereas Ebenezer Bamgboye’s wonderful route by no means lets the power waver. He is ably supported by Movement Director Rose Ryan, whose choreography makes the actors’ motion nearly as vital because the dialogue. At occasions, one actor turns into one other character’s shadow, interacting with the individual they’re addressing; it’s fluid, ingenious and provides one other layer to the storytelling. And there are many layers. Arnim Friess’s lighting design is highly effective – at occasions nearly retina-searing – whereas David Lewington’s sound design is a continuing presence, buzzing beneath the motion and mimicking the relentless noise of London’s streets.

The performances are uniformly excellent and fully plausible. Ambrose’s Jack is Scottish, tough across the edges and vulnerable to extra; Smith’s Tia is northern, scrappy and weak; whereas Pipe’s Tamara is a Londoner, softer, extra fragile and seemingly on the finish of her tether. All three slip effortlessly between characters and transfer superbly. As an added bonus, Pipe sings like a dream – her rendition of Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow despatched shivers down my backbone.

Night City has its flaws, as at occasions it was a bit of complicated as to the place we had been within the narrative and which character was which, and there’s a court docket scene in direction of the top that doesn’t make a lot sense, and the piece can really feel a bit of scattergun. Having stated that, it’s nonetheless a really attention-grabbing piece of theatre, addressing a difficulty that appears to have been occurring endlessly – the story of an underclass of working folks that all of us take as a right. But these are minor niggles in what’s a captivating and extremely theatrical piece of labor. Night City tackles a difficulty that appears to have been with us endlessly: the lives of an underclass of working individuals whose labour we depend on however whose tales we hardly ever hear.

Night City could or is probably not a “choreopoem”, however no matter you wish to name it, it’s a advantageous piece of recent writing and deserves to have an enormous viewers.

Review by Alan Fitter

“This city’s gonna eat you up”

Based on the author’s personal experiences, Night City is an epic new drama in regards to the hilarious highs and devastating lows of London’s gig economic system.

It follows a hedonistic taxi driver, a waitress with huge desires, and a carer with an enormous coronary heart who makes a deadly error one evening, plunging all their lives into chaos. And a political conspiracy that they are going to always remember.

Night City is an epic story of affection, loss and laughter and the way we’d stand extra united towards corruption and an odd future.

Jack Ambrose – Jack
Helena Pipe – Tamara
Bex Smith – Tia

Max Wilkinson – Writer
Ebenezer Bamgboye – Director
Olivia Jamieson – Set and Costume Designer
Arnim Friess – Lighting and Video Designer
David Lewington – Sound Designer
Rose Ryan – Movement Director
Fran Cattaneo – Casting Director

NIGHT CITY
Southwark Playhouse Borough
10 September to three October 2026