Review: BRILLIANT JERKS, Southwark Playhouse

Photo credit: Nick Rutter

The latest offering from Joseph Charlton – writer of the award-winning ANNA X – is a thrilling, scandalous and exposing play about a (familiar) world-changing ride-hailing app.

Charlton’s script is densely packed with stories from the sidelines – alongside the Icarian fall of the app founder, Charlton explores the impact on the lives of a queer programmer from Dublin navigating the cut throat, frat house energy in and outside the offices of the multi-billion-dollar app, as well as a female driver grappling with the night shifts as a recovering addict.

Charlton is a master of voice and in the space of this 90-minute, no-interval production, you feel like you know each of the characters intimately. The writing is snappy, astute and often unassumingly hilarious, exploring the humanity behind the world of tech giants. 

This play examines the tech industry and a particular ubiquitous app from all angles. It is an interesting and debatable choice to let the app founder (Shubham Saraf) have the last word on stage and the many ethical qualms thrown up by this keenly observed piece leaves plenty of fodder for a post-show debrief.

Smoothly directed by Katie-Ann McDonough, the cast of three are phenomenal, keeping pace with the racing script and effortlessly sliding between roles in the three distinct storylines. Sean Delaney is remarkably endearing in his principal role as programmer Sean, in spite of his character’s flaws as he plays along with the dick-swinging antics of the corporate office. Delaney’s performance is delicate and nuanced, blending dry humour with quiet, resigned grief and the agony of being caught in the middle of a number of bad choices.

Shubham Saraf portrays several iterations of the toxic corporate manager with swagger – at once deliciously slimey and transparently fragile in a bro-code cast of his own making. In a towering monologue towards the end of the play, Saraf lays bare the crushing responsibility of the app founder with such breathtaking power you really do feel – if only for a beat – immense pathos for this billionaire.

Kiran Sonia Sawar’s Mia sees none of the dizzying highs of the corporate world as a humble driver, and Sawar captures Mia’s wavering strength, resolve and resilience in the face of heartbreak with great poise and dignity. 

The design of this production is as slick and cool as the writing. The centrepiece of Hazel’s Low’s set is a curved table that mimics the brand logo also displayed on the company lanyards. Rachel Sampley’s lighting design is beautifully nuanced, eloquently cueing moments of pathos as well as moments of sexy seedy hedonism. Annie May Fletcher’s sound design also helps to seamlessly thread the web of stories together.

With echoes of The Social Network, Joseph Charlton’s Brilliant Jerks is fresh, cool and utterly engrossing.

***** Five stars

Reviewed by: Livvy Perrett

Brilliant Jerks plays at Southwark Playhouse until 25 March, with further information here.