Afreena Islam-Wright is a quiz master and theatre maker but not, she says – scores on the doors in the opening moments of the show – a performer. Whether or not this is true or an artful get-out-of-jail-free card isn’t answered during ‘Lucky Tonight!’, an interactive show that’s definitely a quiz and not quite so definitely theatre.

Julia Samuels‘ production is brimming with potential. Islam-Wright grew up in Old Trafford to a Bangladeshi mother who met her husband in an arranged marriage and is now a widely respected pillar of the local community. Afreena’s early childhood is as dutiful as her heritage demands until she hits puberty, bumps into boys and booze and things start to slide. The storytelling portions of the script explore the tension between her expectations and choices and those of her community. The quiz portions gently probe our knowledge of history, heritage and culture in Bangladesh and Britain.

For there is an actual quiz in this show which is fun. The audience are coaxed into teams. There are several rounds of quiz (pictures, numbers, a music round), intersecting Islam-Wright’s monologue with iPad interaction. The smörgåsbord of topics and the prize for tonight’s lucky winner catapults us back into Afreena’s world, questioning the impact of this kaleidoscope of influences. There’s a wee bit of game show flung in for good measure, a homage to Islam-Wright’s appearance on The Chase which plays out at the show’s close. But both elements could be exploited more pointedly to advance or enhance this story.

Lots of thought has gone into this show: Afreena’s traditional to tracksuit transformation, the sari that cascades down from the ceiling (Miriam Nabarro), the solution her mother found to not being able to source a particular kind of kitchen implement when she moved to Manchester, an amazing arrangement of Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ for the sitar (Keith Saha). The narrative ambles through culture clashes, community disapproval, casual racism and not-so-casual racism. Self-billed as a show about her mother, ‘Lucky Tonight!’ in its current form is about a whole lot more than that and maybe narrowing the focus would allow this script to fly. For now, it’s a gently enjoyable exploration of the extent to which we can create our own luck.

‘Lucky Tonight!‘ is at Traverse Theatre – Traverse 2 until Sun 24 Aug 2025 at 21:00