One of London’s hottest theatrical nights out is an immersive trip to Guys & Dolls at the Bridge Theatre where standing with the actors in the stalls is the best “seat” in the house. This was of course once unheard of. I’m sure in early rehearsals it made the work of actors pretty challenging. But they adapted. Brilliantly. Nicholas Hytner’s production was recently named Best Musical Revival by WhatsonStage.
Culture innovates constantly, and it tells us a story we are familiar with, again and again: Work. Some people make the working assumption that life and work neatly separate, but I don’t think they do. Whether I watch The Office or Homeland, Severance or Slow Horses; listen to Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul” (the anthem of the “Great Resignation)” or the BBC’s recent series Dropout, popular culture consistently tells us that work both defines and dominates our lives. Technology changes, times change, but this is a constant. A century ago T.S. Elliot wrote about London’s “Violet Hour” where work ends and home begins.
The timeless Guys & Dolls tells a story which transfers effortlessly from it’s original setting of New York to London because the story is the same: A gamble of life, love, work, which ultimately pays off.
We can relate. “Luck Be a Lady” is one of the most famous songs. Everyone wants Lady Luck. But why does it resonate so much today? It opened post-pandemic, in a city like London which feels like it’s throwing the dice a lot to keep hospitality, tourism, travel, office life and culture flowing well in a world which has changed very much in a very short space of time.
The worker of tomorrow won’t have a single place of work, or if they do, it won’t be for long
The musical is joyous — and my goodness we need that. It’s about the reality that we all duck and dive in life, that we all love, we all pine, and we all hope to get lucky. Everyone today, regardless of collar or qualification, faces having to make their own luck in jobs which require a series of stackable skills overlaid upon each other — can you drive? Can you cook? What languages can you speak? Can you code? Can you type? Are you — and you will need this on your resume — “proficient at prompting” when it comes to ChatGPT?
There is a new equality to this moment like never before. The AI workplace will be far more of a leveler, or will level up: the early indications all point to lower skilled workers benefitting more.* Tomorrow’s worker will have to learn to use an ever-changing new generation of technology; to stay “authentic” in an age of replacement or “augmentation”; to keep a job which could be outsourced to a robot or a different time zone remote worker; and to learn how to live well, live better, work less but earn enough to live. This worker may wear overalls or a suit and they may work from a fixed place temporarily or a fixed place never. We’re in a new placeless, timeless world.
Today the National Theatre, where I first saw Guys & Dolls in a production in 1982 has taken its workplace — the theater — out to the cinema. It’s become virtual. Today you can watch its productions anywhere in the world. Culture has taken a leaf out of work’s book. Virtual meeting? Sure. Join us. Join in. It’s a sign of the times. The worker of tomorrow won’t have a single place of work, or if they do, it won’t be for long. The workplace of the future is full of solopreneurs, people who move their skills in a stackable set across industries, countries, sectors. And why not? This is what AI is letting us do: be fully imaginative in how we access information, and, crucially, how we share it.
London can and should be at the forefront of showing the world how to adapt to changes, taking its cue from the arts and culture on show here. We are going to have a capital city dominated by human experiences which use technology in which to immerse ourselves, to feel our way through to a new shared future. Work is changing, but workers adapt — just like they always did. And so do workplaces. Everyone is retelling the story of work — and it is starting with London.
Julia Hobsbawm is a writer and broadcaster about the past, present and future of work
This was an extract adapted from her latest book Working Assumptions: What We Thought We Knew About Work Before Covid and Generative AI. You can buy it here.
