My Uncle Is Not Pablo Escobar review – The colorful Latin bank drama loses its bite | stage

TThere is no shortage of creative ambition in the play by Valentina Andrade, Elizabeth Alvarado, Lucy Wray, Tommy Ross Williams, and Joanna Nastare, which explores the experiences of Latina women in modern London. In the style of a pop concert, four mysterious figures stand on the pulse of techno beats mixed with selections from the UK population. “White, black, Asian, mixed,” as the phrase goes — Latinos are noticeably absent.

Then comes the clash of identities within what looks like a giant hair band. Notting Hill Carnival or Rio Carnival? Brazilian bikini or swimsuit? The actors stretch the rubber band in different directions in an image that depicts the constant push and pull of feeling like you belong in two places at once. Later, the audience is asked to answer British Citizen test questions; Of course, hardly anyone knows the answers.

It’s a shame, then, that such striking depictions of what it feels like to be a Latina immigrant overshadow the main body of the show: a fictional narrative loosely inspired by the HSBC scandal of 2012. The film follows Ally (Yanxi Enriquez), who juggles her A-levels with early morning shifts as a bank cleaner, and her investigative journalist sister, Cata (Lorena Andrea), who visits Chile and recruits Lucia (Cecilia Alfonso Eaton) to go undercover. Join Ally’s team and look into the bank’s exploitative practices.

It’s a Scooby-Doo-style bank heist, with tense moments as the trio – joined by fellow cleaner Honey (Natalie Sabino) – race to complete a data breach while a lavish party takes place around them. There are some creative uses of props including a toy chihuahua and a plastic mask, however it feels more like a web of ideas rather than something fluid.

This is probably due to the fact that five writers are credited; Occasionally, we hear from some of them in voiceover, in this production also directed by Ray and Ross Williams. There’s tension between siblings, a feeling of not fitting in anywhere, and an immigration subplot dropped at the last minute. But the message the book is trying to leave us gets lost along the way. We need more stories from Latinx people – the fastest growing population in the UK – on our platforms. But this play lacks a unified focus.