Chatterbox
★★★★☆ Gentle humour
Pleasance Courtyard – The Green: Fri 2 – Sun 25 Aug 2024
Review by Allan Wilson.
Lubna Kerr’s Chatterbox, at the Pleasance Courtyard all Fringe, builds on her difficult experiences of growing up as a child of Muslim heritage in 1970s Scotland.
Described as a prequel to her earlier semi-autobiographical shows, Tickbox and Tickbox 2, Chatterbox has a particular focus on her experiences in primary school, a period that Kerr describes with a gentle humour, occasionally laced with frustration, particularly when she reflects on the often overt racism that she faces.
Lubna Kerr as Miss MacDonald. Pic: Colin Hattersley
Kerr initially struggles with reading and writing and finds the Janet and John reading books she is given, so boring. She wants to try Enid Blyton books, like the rest of the class, but her teacher says she “wouldn’t understand them” as she is “stupid”. The label sticks, despite Kerr’s desire to improve her reading by finding the books she wants to read in the local library.
Her struggles to learn English in school and Urdu at home lead to a stutter, mocked by teachers and latched onto by the bullies who sit at the back of her class. The bullies chase Kerr as she walks home from school, trying to pull her hair and grab her bag, so she becomes a fast runner.
As Kerr progresses in school, she begins to shine, but even her achievements are denigrated by teachers. When she scores 145 in an IQ test, they immediately label her a cheat and force her to do a re-sit, in which she achieves an even higher score. Kerr reflects that a label given to a child can often last for many years.
progress
She gets to know her wider community. Albert the greengrocer, who becomes her best friend, offering guidance and support whenever she needs it. Her neighbour, Jeanie, a “friendly racist”, who, without malice, sometimes refers to her as a “darkie” and asks if Kerr is a Catholic Muslim, or a Protestant Muslim?
Jeanie becomes a role model for Kerr, encouraging her to get people to like her by making them laugh. She becomes known as a “Chatterbox” – a label that, for once, Kerr enjoys.
Kerr inherits her father’s love for cricket, joining him to listen to Test Match Special on the radio, and to watch live on television when it is available. They play cricket together in local parks and, when the weather is bad, in the hall of their flat. During one of these indoor matches, her father has the first of a series of heart attacks, that will eventually kill him many years later.
The creative team behind the production: director, Emily Ingram; dramaturg, Jen McGregor and editor, Charity Trim have worked well together to ensure that the production flows and is interesting and enjoyable to watch.
Kerr is a very skilled storyteller, gently engaging, but keeping the action moving with good use of props, including a guitar, a school crossing patrol ‘lollipop’ and a school desk. This is an enjoyable performance, encouraging the audience to consider issues that were rife in the 1970s – racism, religious intolerance and inappropriate labelling of people – and to reflect on how much progress we have made.
Running time: One hour (no interval)
Pleasance Courtyard (The Green), 60 Pleasance, EH8 9TJ (Venue 33)
Friday 2 – Sunday 25 August 2024
Daily (not Tue 20): 4.55pm
Details and tickets at: Book here
Website: www.lubnakerr.co.uk
Facebook: @lubna.kerr
Instagram: @lubnakerr
X: @LubnaKerr
ENDS
