My Uncle Is Not Pablo Escobar at Brixton House Theatre

Returning after a sold-out run in 2023, My Uncle Is Not Pablo Escobar was born out of a frustration about the lack of Latinx representation in British media. Part comic heist thriller, part gig theatre, it gleefully smashes through and pokes fun at stereotypes while offering a painfully honest exploration of the harsh realities of the immigrant experience.

It follows four Latinx women in South London: Colombian immigrant Ale (Yanexi Enriquez), who is determined to ace her exams and get her citizenship; her older sister Catalina (Lorena Andrea), a cutthroat investigative journalist; activist Lucia (Cecilia Alfonso-Eaton), who was born in Chile and adopted by British parents; and Brazilian immigrant Honey (Nathaly Sabino), who juggles multiple jobs to make ends meet. A money-laundering scandal at a multinational bank brings these women together in a daring heist to expose the truth and bring justice to the exploited.

In some places, the play’s commentary on the experiences of the Latinx commentary is subtle and powerful – particularly the opening, where the official list of ethnic groups in the UK is read out as ballroom categories, with Latinx people notably lumped into “other”, despite being one of the fastest-growing migrant communities in London. It’s clever and funny and packs a punch when the point hits. At other points, the commentary feels a little on the nose, such as when the women complain about being fetishised by the white male gaze and strut across the stage carrying giant exotic fruits. A valid point, but delivered in a slightly ham-fisted way.

The story itself is over-the-top and dramatic in a way that feels high camp, peppered with telenovela-style drama. Tomas Palmer’s versatile stage design, with a moving pink staircase at its centre, transforms smoothly between the different locations, from Ale’s messy flat to a pulsing nightclub. The heist plays out with rapid-fire choreography and quick transitions, which are chaotic as they are fun to behold.

The plot is often interrupted with comical skits, where the cast break character to perform dance routines and play games: quizzing the audience with questions from the British citizenship test, or debating between Morley’s and arepas. These interludes are entertaining and drive the play’s point home effectively, but start feeling a little disruptive once we’re fully invested in the story. What works better are the interjections from writers Valentina Andrade and Elizabeth Alvarado, who occasionally break the fourth wall as disembodied voices from above, their own personal experiences and the play’s inspirations – even arguing about whether to give the story a realistic or idealistic ending. It’s charming and clever, and pushes the audience to think about the overlap between fiction and reality.

The characters are where the play really shines. Each woman is authentic, compelling and vividly realised. Ale and Catalina’s turbulent sisterly relationship is the beating heart of the story, exploring how migration can rupture family dynamics. Lucia grapples with reconciling her Chilean identity with her British upbringing, while Honey agonises over the fear of deportation. Andrea and Sabino bring a powerful, heartbreaking depth to Catalina and Honey, while Enriquez and Alfonso-Eaton have a tendency to overact, but this feels in-character for the two younger, more naive characters in the quartet. Above all, the cast has real chemistry, playing off each other seamlessly in comedic moments as well as emotional ones, switching fluidly between English and Spanish or Portuguese in a way bilingual speakers will be familiar with, while surtitles translate on the screens above.

Like the characters themselves, My Uncle Is Not Pablo Escobar is cheeky and irreverently funny, while also staying unapologetically, fiercely true to the complexities of the Latinx experience, refusing to put its story, or its women, in an easily digestible box.