Cecilia Alfonso-Eaton, Nathaly Sabino, Pia Laborde-Noguez and Yanexi Enriquez
Four exciting young Latinx women have been announced as the cast in the world premiere of My Uncle Is Not Pablo Escobar at Brixton House this June – two of whom mark this as their professional debut.
Cecilia Alfonso-Eaton is one of the co-founders of Latinxcluded and graduated from the University of Manchester last summer with a degree in Drama and English literature she is also a member of the National Youth Theatre. Throughout university, Cecilia performed in a number of shows including The Reanimating project, The Shadows, Billionaire’s Row and Hold Me Tight as well as co directing What Does it Mean to You? which was taken up to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2022. My Uncle is not Pablo Escobar will be Cecilia’s
professional debut.
Yanexi Enriquez is a London-based actor and dancer, who trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, graduating in 2020. Yanexi played Cass in Mandala Theatre Company's tour of Though This be Madness, in co-production with the Roundhouse and Belgrade Theatres, in 2022. She participated in the Globe Theatre's Monologue Slam with Mawa Theatre Company in 2023, playing Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing.
Pia Laborde-Noguez has numerous credits on screen and stage. She most recently shot the feature film La Cocina, playing Susan, which starred Rooney Mara and was directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios. The film wrapped this summer. She performed in the one-woman show A Girl is a Half Formed Thing at the Cervantes Theatre. Other credits include A Fight Against… (Royal Court), No Particular Order (Theatre503), The House of the Spirits, The House of Bernarda Alba (Cervantes); Una niña es una cosa a medio formar (Sala Beckett & Museo
Tamayo); Trust (Gate); Glorious! (Frinton Festival); The Tempest (Norwich & Norfolk Theatre Festival)
Nathaly Sabino is a Brazilian born English actor that grew up between Brazil and Manchester. Her love of the theatre grew through attending workshops at Oldham Theatre and attending The Oldham Coliseum’s Young Company. After training at ALRA North, and persevering in the industry, Nathaly was offered a place in the acclaimed NYT REP company 2022-2023. This is Nathaly’s first notable role on stage and she is extremely excited about being a part of this production as it is the first time in her career that she is working with a team of
people who are all part of the LatinX or allies community. She cannot wait for the Brazilian and LatinX community to see themselves on stage – for most, the first time ever!
The world premiere of new play My Uncle Is Not Pablo Escobar challenges toxic stereotypes of Latinx people - the 8 th largest ethnic community in the UK and one of the fastest growing, but still not recognised as a category in the national census and other major bodies.
Inspired by the real-life story of a major multinational British highstreet bank laundering money for cartels, the show imagines how a powerful team of Latinx women could come together at great risk to themselves to expose the men profiting from crime in Latin America and seek justice.
My Uncle is Not Pablo Escobar relishes in the seen and unseen of communities and systems so insidiously hidden and explores what it means to have a dual identity – your cultural heritage and your home city. Drawing on extensive activism developed at The Advocacy Academy, the production has already proven the capability of arts to enact social change, being the catalyst for Arts Council England to add Latin American as an ethnicity on their forms - the first major institution to differ from the national census. The team also has been working with King’s College London to galvanise policy and give South American students better access to degree and postgraduate courses.
Co-creator Elizabeth Alvarado says “A lot of stereotypes that I have faced is that I sell drugs, or that I am somehow related to a drug cartel. It’s a joke that gets very boring very quickly, because people say it so much. It’s something people think because of the movies they watch and the way media portray us. The play is going to be a fantastic way to challenge those stereotypes because we want to create characters that are powerful, radical, strong and fierce. I feel privileged to be able to share a bit of what I have lived and experienced. A lot of myself is in this project.”
Co-creator Valentina Andrade says “If at the age of 15 you had told me when you are in your twenties you are going to be co-creating a play, I wouldn’t have believed you. This project is like a baby to me. It’s intertwined with my life, my campaigning. I never thought I would be able to do something like this, because I’ve never seen it happen to other people.”
My Uncle is Not Pablo Escobar is presented with the Latin X Brixton Festival 16-18 June - a series of panels, workshops and talks around co-creation, activism, creativity and Latinx culture. Full programme to be announced.
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