My Uncle is Not Pablo Escobar | Brixton House

My Uncle is Not Pablo Escobar, co-created by Valentina Andrade, Elizabeth Alvarado, Lucy Wray, Tommy Ross-Williams, and Joana Nastari, is an engaging and thought-provoking piece of theatre with the Latinx community at the forefront - borne from the need to have more British Latinx experiences shown on stage. The aims of the show are lofty and admirable. The execution, however, is a bit more muddled, but still enjoyable.

The show follows the story of Alejandra, played by Yanexi Enriquez, as she is about to finish up her schooling and possibly get into a prestigious university. Her sister Catalina, played by Lorena Andrea, shows up from Colombia unexpectedly, and this visit ends up derailing Alejandra’s entire plans. What ensues is an undercover mission and heist to expose corrupt banks (particularly based on the HSBC 2012 scandal), which are profiting off of the drug cartels in Latin America. Enlisting the help of Alejandra’s co-workers, Lucia (played by Cecilia Alfonso-Eaton) and Honey (Nathaly Sabino), they work together to gain encrypted information about how the banks are involved in money laundering.

Alongside this main storyline, there are interspersed skits and dialogue that are set seemingly outside of the main universe of the play. There are dialogue scenes between two of the show’s writers, where they discuss everything from their own experiences being British and Latinx, why they wrote this show and even how they want the story to end. Then there are the skits with the actors on stage where they play games with the audience, including ‘Morleys or Arepas?’ and questions from the dreaded Life in the UK test.

While all of these skits and scenes are clear in their intention, it often feels very jarring, as it’s constantly pulling us out of the action of the play and even worse feels heavy-handed in its messaging. These games did not add anything to the characters or plot, but instead just belaboured the point about what it feels like to be a migrant. And so these mini-scenes felt pointless after a while. The show itself was 90 minutes long and this could have been tightened up if some or most of these mini-scenes were simply removed. The direct dialogue from two of the show’s writers also felt unnecessary at times and often like an over-explanation of what was going on and what the show was trying to achieve.

Then there is the issue with the plot. For a good amount of time, the undercover mission this play is set around feels fair and plausible. Yes, Lucia can act as a cleaner to get access to someone’s computer in the bank. Yes, Alejandra can be incredibly smart and access some encrypted files. The suspension of disbelief is not too hard in these moments. What becomes harder to believe is that Catalina, an investigative journalist, has glasses that can scan retinas. And that Honey, while trying to maintain her cover at the party, can quickly operate on a dog to remove a microchip-sized hard drive. All of these moments, as the heist gets more intense, are unbelievable. And while one could argue these moments were meant to be funny in their absurdity, they don’t feel very funny because the show has been steeped in realism up until that point. These larger-than-life scenes are not so easily believed and is another way audiences are taken out of the show.

Ultimately, My Uncle is Not Pablo Escobar tries to tell a nuanced, funny and political story about Latin America and the Latinx migrants here in the UK - how they cope with the distance, how they still fight for their countries, and how their stories deserve to be on stage. But the main issue here is that the show itself is being pulled in different directions, with no clear aim or point. I found myself longing to hear more about the emotional and political motivations of these characters instead. To spend more time sitting with Honey’s story and her fight for her visa status. To spend more time hearing about how Alejandra and Catalina’s brother died and what that did to their family and their relationship as sisters. To spend more time hearing about Lucia’s adoption and how that has affected her on her journey to rediscovering her Latinx heritage. All of these stories deserve a lot more time and exploration.

That being said, the acting and the set were fantastic to watch. Everyone played their characters brilliantly, and the chemistry between them all was palpable. The set, by Tomás Palmer, was minimalistic but dynamic in the way it was used. It was engaging to watch how the different pieces were manipulated to create different scenes and backdrops. The sound design, by Xavier Velastin and supported by Livvy Lynch, was impeccable. There was a great mix of beats and music that supported the rising tensions in the show.

Overall, the Latinx community representation is clear but underdeveloped. However, My Uncle is Not Pablo Escobar is an engaging show that allows you to dip your toes into British and Latinx experiences. It’s also a show to watch if you want to see something full of tension and heart.

My Uncle is Not Pablo Escobar plays at Brixton House until 03rd May 2026 - tickets and more information can be found here.

★★★☆☆ (3*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Lucy Le Broq