My Uncle is not Pablo Escobar

Young Latinx women from South London stand on stage and dare you to call them invisible.

My Uncle is Not Pablo Escobar follows a group of activists as they challenge injustice and fight for the representation they deserve. It is a formally innovative piece of theatre that weaves traditional playwriting, the creators’ experience as campaigners and a live-art aesthetic.

The show has been in development since 2017 with support from Theatre Deli, Battersea Arts Centre, Shoreditch Town Hall, The Old Vic and in 2021 a rehearsed reading was staged as part of Paines Plough’s Roundabout Brixton season. In summer 2023 My Uncle Is Not Pablo Escboar had a three week run at Brixton House, hosted alongside a festival of Latinx arts and activism. The show went on to sell-out, garner rave reviews and was one of three finalists for Best Production at the OFFIES 2024 where it also won the One Off Special Award for its impact.

The very existence of this show has been a strategic tool for campaigning for Latinx rights and through this process the Arts Council has changed its monitoring forms to include “Latinx” as an option for ethnicity - the first major institution to divert from the National Census, setting a huge precedent for visibility of the Latinx community.

Behind the Scenes