Brilliant Jerks

I saw the streets, the lights, the cars, the people - Everything moving in different directions at the same time. . . I wanted to make the map alive.

In December 2008, an entrepreneur leaves a tech conference in Paris. As he stands on the street, unable to hail a cab, an idea lands with the falling snow: tap a button, get a ride.

Ten years later, Mia drives nights in Manchester, Sean is recruited as the brightest new programmer and Tyler moves on to yet another new future.

Brilliant Jerks tells the story of three people - a driver, a coder and a CEO - working for one tech monolith, but living worlds apart.

Joseph Charlton's sleek, gripping and revelatory play, based on the creation of a multi-billion-dollar app, premiered at VAULT Festival, 2018, and was revived at Southwark Playhouse, London, in March 2023.