★★★★
Now that the MySpace generation has come of age, performers are taking to the stage in a bid to start writing the first draft of the history of the noughties. Nathan Jonathan’s A Small Town Northern Tale offers a grounded and emotionally resonant take on noughties nostalgia. Set in a small Northern town in the early 2000s, this one-man show follows David, a mixed-Jamaican-heritage teen navigating adolescence, identity and belonging in a world of Kappa tracksuits, MSN Messenger and cultural invisibility.
The audience is introduced to David (played by Jonathan) as he enters from the back of the room, dressed in an Adidas tracksuit. It is a compelling one-man performance and the audience is instantly drawn in to David’s world of Saturday morning cartoons and his big, loving extended family. But all is not as it seems. The play shows how class, gender and race intersect and slowly we begin to learn the reason for David’s move to a small town.
Jonathan’s portrayal of David takes the audience on an emotional roller coaster. Largely made up of millennials, the room of thirty-somethings cringe along with him as he describes the act of logging into and out of MSN messenger in a bid to get the girl he fanices to notice. I am amazed at how the production team managed to reproduce an actual conversation over MSN messenger, complete with the sound of a nudge as well as the antiquated acronyms we used to exchange. It really was a blast from the past.
Perhaps one of the most powerful moments in the show was David’s internal conflict over whether to physically confront his bully, who has been racially abusing him since his first day at school. Jonathan’s performance really makes us feel the complex emotions David experienced when deciding whether to get his own back.
While A Small Town Northern Tale allows the audience the fond memories of their youth, it also interrogates nostalgia. The 2000s were not just about the growing popularity of social media, questionable fashion choices, wearing too much Lynx Africa and emo fringes. It represented a period where a country was trying to come to terms with its post-industrial future, multiculturalism and what it really means to be a man. It becomes more than a trip down memory lane. It’s a poignant, funny, and quietly powerful piece that delivers a memorable and compelling solo performance.
A Small Town Northern Tale will be performed at Underbelly Cowgate until 24 August (not 11) as part of Edinburgh Fringe.
Words by Lauren Gilmour
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