EDINBURGH 2025: Review: A SMALL TOWN NORTHERN TALE, Underbelly

A Small Town Northern Tale is a piece of solo theatre written and performed by Nathan Jonathan. It is based on his own experiences shown through a character known as “David”. 

David is a young boy who moves from a city to a small northern town as a result of domestic violence from his Jamaican father. His mother is white English and they initially live in a women’s shelter with David’s brother. 

Used to seeing many people who look like him at school, David has a shock when he starts at a school where he’s the only non-white child. The play takes us through his four years of high school. There are some sweet moments as he develops a crush on an emo girl in his class. He’s subject to racist bullying from the school's hard nut “Kevin”. 

The early 2000s setting is well portrayed in this piece as David insists his mother can’t use the phone for the evening, as he wants to talk to his crush on MSN Messenger. He tries to fit in with reading lads mags like the other boys in his year.

The show struggles slightly to find a balance between the humour of awkward school days and tougher topics like racism and domestic violence.

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