Theatre review: Zeugma's _T0701_ takes a tough look at the ethics of delivery apps and the gig economy

In the beginning was a word, and the word was freedom. When ride-hailing and delivery apps like Uber and Grab first arose five years ago – and with them, a fast-growing gig economy – the message they preached was the freedom to work the hours you choose.

No boss, no fixed hours – merely a system that rewards the virtues of hustling with fast earnings. No surprise, then, that believers flocked to this promised land of empowerment in droves.

Post-pandemic, the rose-tinted glasses are off. While questions about the unregulated industry have popped up over the years, this pandemic has made clear how vulnerable these workers are.

Though we rely on food and goods deliveries more than ever, gig workers’ earnings are inching downward – even as their risk of virus exposure climbs.

While more are turning to delivery gigs after job losses, they find scarcely any support from these companies and their ever-changing fee structures.

It seems timely that the widow of a delivery driver in Singapore, who allegedly died of exhaustion, recently came forward to share her story . Round the world, other horrific tales of death by overwork have surfaced .

These thorny issues form the backdrop for _T0701_ , an unsettling play by local artist collective Zeugma for this year’s Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA). Now available for streaming on-demand, the play unfolds in a not-too-distant society ruled by corporate giant MegahCorp.

MegahCorp’s too-close-for-comfort slogan is ‘Always With You’, and that pretty much sums up their privacy M.O. Big Brother vibes, anyone?

In MegahCorp, however, deliveryman Jati ( Irsyad Dawood ) trusts. A PMD Delivery Personnel (aka DePer), he’s driven by the belief that his gig work is the road to a better life for himself and his mother. And as we watch MegahCorp’s slick job rhetoric on-screen, it’s hard not to see why.

Uncannily reminiscent of a navy recruitment video, their ads are sprinkled with empowering clichés tailored to hook in millennials.

Think ‘Serving the Community’, ‘Believe in Yourself’, and best of all, ‘The world is in the power of your hands’ – even if Jati has to ask his device for permission before resting for the night.

On the other side of the fence is a small freedom movement, led by Jati’s own mother Rabiah ( Gloria Tan ) – a bomoh who resists the all-knowing MegahCorp with her own brand of magic.

‘Installing’ spirits into devices, she creates ‘T0701s’ (pronounced ‘toy-yols’) – charms for a digital age that can glitch MegahCorp’s location tracking.

For misfits like Azizah ( Indumathi Tamilselvan ) and Versace ( Izzul Irfan ), this means precious pockets of space where they can simply chill out without penalties from the system. But as her son climbs higher up the ranks, their clashing views on freedom and survival hurtles them toward betrayal.

Blending digital animation with live performance, the play trains a sharp spotlight on the psychological tricks that keep workers running on the underpaid hamster wheel.

This goes beyond touting ideals, and includes common reward structures like levelling up for bonus perks – the same features that make video games so addictive.

On the audience’s end, we watch Jati’s delivery avatar lost in what resembles a retro racing game on-screen, fueled by peppy music and high-speed thrills.

The adrenaline rush is so reflexive you almost don’t notice how repetitive the gamescape is – Jati’s avatar is on a race to nowhere, speeding down an endlessly scrolling road.

How, then, can we break free from the spell of the gig economy?  _T0701_ offers one bold possibility: the kind of traditional roots and spiritual healing embodied by Rabiah the bomoh. Can mysticism stand up against mega-corporations? In our app-dominated era, it’s not hard to foresee the answer.

_T0701_ ran from 28 to 29 May 2021 at SOTA Studio Theatre, 1 Zubir Said Dr, Singapore 227968. The play is available for streaming on-demand from 5–20 June 2021. Tickets are priced at $15 via SIFA’s site .

This article was first published in City Nomads.