"Tick Box 2" is a captivating and insightful semi-autobiographical one-woman play that delves into profound themes of race, perception, identity, and the pressure to meet expectations while growing up as a person of colour in 1970s Glasgow. The play expertly weaves between narrative and humorous commentary. As the protagonist, Lubna, shares captivating insights into her own life and that of her parents.
Drawing from her Asian heritage, Lubna fearlessly and cleverly tackles the stereotypes attached to her background through her unique sense of humour and talks about the same in an interview with Asian Voice.
The idea behind the inception of "Tick Box"
Lubna’s inspiration behind “Tick Box” and “Tick Box 2” is her parent’s story. The family moved to Glasgow after her father got scheduled to do a PhD in chemistry from the University of Strathclyde. “My father brought my mum over from a very middle-class life. When I think back to what she used to be, back home, and what she had to adapt to when she moved to Glasgow, which is not middle class at all, it's quite the opposite. There was a cultural shock and the casual discrimination didn’t help.”
She feels that South Asians, Pakistani people in particular, are campaigned as bad people and need to have more positive stories. “Tick Box” is her attempt to redress the balance and change the rhetoric.
Why name it “Tick Box”
Lubna loves picking titles that can have different meanings. She asks, “Have you ever felt that you're included in something because they're just ticking the box? It might be because you're female, it might be because you're young or because you're a woman of colour?”
She explains, “The name just came to me in a vision that this is what I want to call it, “TICK BOX” because I am always ticking boxes for other people and I don't want to tick all these boxes.“
The representation of South Asian heritage
Lubna feels that while there’s a definite lack of representation, there are even fewer people in Scotland. “I can probably count on one hand, the number of Asian actresses that I know, whether it's stage or television. So I think yes, we don't have enough and yes, we do need to have more. But what is important is having a role model and we need more than just a few role models.”
An advice for the South Asian future of theatre
Lubna advices the youth to follow their passion and dream. She advices to, “Do what you want to do. Life is too short to be in an unhappy job, where you're just making money. And yes, it will be difficult, but find the truth in your life. Find the story that you want to tell, and tell it from a point of truth and authenticity.
“Do not let other people direct your thought process, especially white people who don't understand what you're going through. Be realistic about your expectations, but never lose the dream and passion, because that's what will keep you going.”
Making serious issues relatable
Lubna makes serious subjects relatable by dabbling into comedy. When we laugh, we produce endorphins. Once the mind is relaxed and when we are relaxed, we can take in more information. She focuses on the science of the art, relaxing people with comedy and then shocking them with hard-hitting stuff when they are relaxed.
The evolution from “Tick Box” to “Tick Box 2”
I did "Tick Box" last year and since then we’ve had three Prime Ministers and one new First Minister. I needed to there are some parts of my play that are political and so I need to just slightly update them.
Secondly, I’ve had the play redirected by a British Nigerian woman, which is the other end of the spectrum. She read the script and told me that I was being too soft and needed to lay on the racist issues. And so, I had to rewrite the bits that were too soft.
Thirdly, the play was very much side to side and this time around, I’ve tried to add dimension to it.
Tickbox 2 plays at Pleasance Courtyard, The Green, Venue 33, 2 – 27 Aug 2023 (not 16&23), 17.00. For more information, go to https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/tickbox-2
