Q&A with Max Wilkinson ahead of Night City’s London run

We talk with writer Max Wilkinson about his new show, Night City, coming to Southwark Playhouse Borough this Autumn. Max discusses the realities of insecure work, the darker side of London’s care system, his creative relationship with director Ebenezer Bamgboye and which character he’d most like to share a pint with.

Do you think people have become more willing to accept insecure work because they feel they have no other choice?

Definitely. When we talk about the gig economy we’re talking about anything between 1 and 15% of our UK economy because it’s so hard to quantify. And you could argue that it goes further than that. The health system, the education system, various industries and institutions we used to take for granted are increasingly structured with insecure staff and part-time contracts with very, very little security. And as we seem to be living in never-ending recession, you take what you can get. And it’s still the people at the bottom who suffer most from this but it invades much of white collar work too. And I feel people would organise and take more collective action across sectors if they weren’t so time-poor and ever fearful of losing their jobs or having their insecure ‘contracts terminated.’

Which character would you most like to sit down and have a pint with?

Hahaha, great question. Jack, probably. He’s the hedonistic cab driver who never sleeps and loves to party but a romantic at heart so we’d have some great impassioned chats between all the filth, I hope. But we’d also definitely end up most likely end up in a ditch somewhere I’m sure.

Was there ever a moment where you worried the humour might undermine the seriousness of the story?

Yes, sometimes. But I’ve done similar things with previous plays of mine and you learn, I think, when to time a joke and when to completely leave them out. But also I personally think humour isn’t a positive thing: it’s often just to help swallow the endless absurdity and outrageous misfortune life constantly throws. It’s revelling in absurd tragedy and finding collective antidotes to it. Also theatre gives you that chance to play with form, to have a ton of jokes before things get very, very dark and heavy. Film doesn’t allow you to do it so much, or else it’s very difficult.

What's the biggest lesson you've learned from watching Ebenezer direct your work?

So we haven’t started rehearsals yet but I saw the ‘the Lonely Londoners’ which he directed beautifully at the Kiln Theatre and knew, after our conversations, that we shared very similar ideas about theatres and how operatic one can be with it.

What surprised you most while researching London's gig economy?

How nasty the modern care system could be.

My aunt worked for a grim, privatised care company, which I satirised directly in the play, and she was the main inspiration for the character of Tamara. She was paid about £9 an hour and was increasingly told to spend less time with her ‘clients.’ Then I spent a few years on and off researching first-hand accounts of carers in the increasingly privatised care system. What came up again and again is that, including my aunt, you were only given about 15-20 minutes actual time between your ‘clients,’ your patients, who were mostly very old or bed-bound and mostly just wanted to chat and spend some time with someone while you gave them their routine medicine. But if you ever wanted to just about afford your rent, especially in London, you had to treat your patients like cattle. It’s a grim reality and this is what an increasingly privatised health care system looks like.

Night City is coming to Southwark Playhouse Borough, London from the 9th September to 3rd October 2026. For tickets and more information visit: https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/night-city/