EDINBURGH 2023: Review: MY FATHER'S NOSE, Assembly Rooms

A recently bereaved man sits crying on a bench in a park when a stranger who’s just finished her mental health training course at work lends an ear. See, he had taken his dad’s nose right before he died and then never put it back. Stuck with his thumb between his pointer and middle finger, he can’t let go of his father’s passing. Her bafflement at the situation is quickly dispersed when she sees that the man is totally serious. He transports her to a world of overactive imagination and joyous childhood memories preserved by his dad’s silly songs.

My Father’s Nose is a surprisingly heartwarming show about death and moving on. Douglas Walker’s comedy is shaped with hilarious non-humour and eccentric irony. His sorrow is mirrored by the stranger’s sympathy in a well-rounded journey into irrational fears and comical anecdotes. Walker offers a poetic view of life and dementia, comparing Alzheimer’s disease to a locked cupboard in an astonishing image. Everything is in there, his dad just can’t open it. 

It’s a delicate tale that explains that not everything needs to make sense all the time. The two strangers are both weird in different ways, but neither of them judges the other for their outlandish outlooks and bizarre oddities. The ditties scattered in the piece make the grieving process a uniquely creative one, proving that not all coping mechanisms are the same. It reveals a deep understanding of humanity.

My Father's Nose runs at the Assembly Rooms until 27 August.

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