Darcy Willison. Photos: Bec O’Connor

WATFORD is on her bike swerving through the traffic, working against the clock as a cycle courier.

She is a cog in the vast “gig economy” where travelling to and from jobs is not paid. There is also no holiday or sick pay. People work through illness and bereavement for fear of losing out.

The gig economy refers to a way of working where work is assigned on a short-term or job-by-job basis.

Watford or “Watsie” is the main protagonist in the acclaimed play, Empty in Angel by James Woolf.

It follows her fight for better working conditions and is based on an actual employment tribunal from 2017.

Watsie reflects in the play: “We’re contractors, paid by the docket. What better incentive for us to work like stink? The fastest, the keenest, land the next job. And in between:

“For those long hours waiting around – NADA.

“For those dead miles cycling back from a job – NADA.

“For the days off sick or injured – NADA.

“For those mix-ups when the controller leaves you stranded – NADA.”

The title Empty in Angel refers to a moment in the play when Watsie is without a job and is “empty” in Angel.
It is an appropriate word.

Darcy Willison on stage as Watsie in Empty in Angel by James Woolf. Photos: Bec O’Connor

Watsie, played by Darcy Willison encounters an array of characters en route, who are all nimbly and brilliantly played by Willison herself. The script is a clever and fast-paced with flashes of razor-sharp comedy, while raps and couplets are threaded through to tell the story.

Watsie’s bike is fixed and stationary on stage as she pedals furiously to get to jobs. Occasional film and stills on a background screen are used to augment the story.

Woolf, a playwright and fiction writer as well as a Law Society Policy Adviser, was inspired to write about the subject after attending a lunchtime presentation on the gig economy which looked at the tribunal of a cycle courier.

He says of his interest in the subject: “I think it was partly that there is this kind of hidden world. Hearing about this tribunal one lunchtime was a totally inspiring story about normal people, collectively taking action and actually achieving something.”

Woolf, who lives in north London, spoke to cycle couriers and enlisted the help of the trade union, the Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB).

The IWGB supported the couriers through the original court case in 2017. It also worked with a number of the plaintiffs, but extensively with the courier at the heart of the tribunal, whom Watsie is based on.

James Woolf

The tribunal found the courier in question should be classed as a worker rather than self-employed.

As a worker, she would be entitled to basic rights including holiday and sick pay and the national living wage. That decision only applied to the courier in question but it highlighted the working practices of the gig economy.

While it was a historic moment, as the play makes clear, there is still more to do.

“Part of the message of the play was this was a significant milestone,” says Woolf.  “But as Brighton [a character in Empty in Angel]  says in the play: there’s still a hell of a long way to go.

“I wanted people to come away with that message and to spread the word, not only to see the play, but also about the subject itself – to have an awareness.”

Following a sell-out run in November 2019, Empty in Angel was a finalist at the 2020 Stand­ing Ovation Awards.

It has been touring London venues this autumn and there are performances at the Bloomsbury Theatre and the Etcetera Theatre in October and the Old Red Lion Theatre in November.

Woolf adds of the play: “This is about something happening right now. I want to bring attention to the fight gig economy workers face today against an exploitative employment model in a dynamic and informative way.

“Bringing this piece back following the pandemic is even more crucial as the gig economy expanded so much last year to meet consumer demands.

“I really hope audiences leave with a little fire in their belly.”

• Empty In Angel is at the Bloomsbury Theatre on October 10, 7.30pm;  Etcetera Theatre October 29 & 30 October, 9pm; and at the Old Red Lion November 17-20, 7.30pm
emptyinangel.com