{"id":367038,"date":"2025-08-23T10:54:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T10:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/367038\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T10:54:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T10:54:15","slug":"chatterbox-all-edinburgh-theatre-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/367038\/","title":{"rendered":"Chatterbox : All Edinburgh Theatre.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 30): Mon 18 \u2013 Mon 25 Aug 2025
Review by Orna Clarke<\/p>\n

Chatterbox is an eye-opening, extremely personal hour of storytelling by Lubna Kerr in the Pleasance Courtyard Green, in which she reflects on growing up as a Pakistani immigrant in 1970s Glasgow.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The child-friendly (eight and over) one-woman show tackles the profound impacts of bullying and racism on their child victims, both immediately and continuing into their adult lives.<\/p>\n

Dressed in school uniform as her younger self, Kerr shifts between addressing the audience directly and recreating scenes from her upbringing, playing herself and a selection of her parents, teachers and peers. She details her experience of racist bullying at school, and love, encouragement and the weight of expectation at home.<\/p>\n

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Lubna Kerr \u2013 Chatterbox publicity image. Pic: Colin Hattersley.<\/p>\n

Cultural references place the show in its era, as Kerr describes reading Enid Blyton books and her father\u2019s conversion of LP records to cassette tapes.<\/p>\n

The darkest notes are lightened by Kerr\u2019s humour and honesty. She describes fondly the people that raised her: her father, who moved to the UK to study at the University of Strathclyde; her mother, who later became the first female Quran scholar in Scotland; and Albert, the kindly greengrocer whose shop was a place of solace for Kerr during the worst of the bullying.<\/p>\n

The darkness comes when she embodies her past self, full of anxiety and grief, wringing hands and stuttering; and when she reenacts some of the horrific treatment she received, not only from her fellow students, but teachers, too.<\/p>\n

There are anecdotes many will relate to: Kerr\u2019s desire to wear makeup like her friend, or having to carry her guitar around in a black bin bag because she\u2019s missing a cover for it. But much of what she describes from her peers, and especially her teachers, is truly shocking.<\/p>\n

It grows from individual ignorance \u2013 Kerr delivers micro-aggressions from \u2018Jeanie the friendly racist\u2019 with humour \u2013 and escalates to harrowing displays of systemic racism, as she is dismissed and silenced by teachers who make no effort to disguise their attitudes.<\/p>\n

a sense of irony<\/p>\n

A striking moment sees Kerr speak Urdu while embodying her Scottish teacher, demonstrating how she felt when spoken to harshly in English, a language she didn\u2019t understand at the time.<\/p>\n

Though the piece is more theatre than comedy, there are some well-landed gags \u2013 Kerr telling Albert he better be careful with turmeric if he\u2019s a Celtic fan, and a wink-nudge comparison between the Pakistani and UK governments for \u2018signing contracts worth millions for something they don\u2019t even know will work.\u2019<\/p>\n

Kerr recounts much of her experience with a sense of irony, such as when she was accused of cheating on her IQ test because she\u2019d got such a brilliant result \u2013 a test that, she explains, \u2018was developed by old white men to measure the intelligence of those native to the countries they invaded.\u2019<\/p>\n

Kerr effectively conveys the spiritual, physical and emotional impacts of bullying and racism on children, and how these can manifest in victims\u2019 later lives. What\u2019s remarkable about the hour is that she\u2019s never bitter or vengeful \u2013 she doesn\u2019t try to psychoanalyse her bullies.<\/p>\n

In fact, her reflections don\u2019t dwell on them at all, but focus on her own feelings. Rather than being an expos\u00e9 of their behaviour, it\u2019s a quiet celebration of her own resilience.<\/p>\n

Running time: One hour (no interval).<\/strong>
Pleasance Courtyard (The Green)<\/strong>, 60 Pleasance EH8 9TJ (Venue 33).
Wednesday 30 July \u2013 Monday 25 August 2025.
Daily (Not 19): 1pm.
Tickets and details: Book here on EdFringe.com<\/strong><\/a>.
Book here on EdFest.com<\/a><\/strong>.*<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lubna Kerr website: www.lubnakerr.co.uk<\/a><\/strong>
Facebook: @lubna.kerr<\/a><\/strong>
Instagram: @lubnakerr<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

*<\/strong>affiliate link.
ENDS<\/p>\n

Tags: <\/strong> #EdFringe<\/a>, Chatterbox<\/a>, EdFringe 2025<\/a>, Lubna Kerr<\/a>, Made In Edinburgh<\/a>, Orna Clarke<\/a>, Pleasance Courtyard<\/a>, Review<\/a>, Theatre<\/a><\/p>\n

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