‘House of Nostril’ is a darkly surreal comedy, set in a vaguely Victorian era and based on characters  from the ‘Nostril family’. They dabble in the occult and are on a bizarre quest to destroy the apparently evil “Amnesty International”. The odd-ball plot and sense of humour are carried by the enthusiasm of the cast and the inventiveness of the characters, but it’s never quite funny enough to be a great comedy on its own and never takes itself quite seriously enough to be a good horror. The engrossingly absurdist atmosphere often falls into just being weird; though if you like that sort of thing, there is plenty of material which is explosively original.

Pleasance Courtyard, until 25 Aug, 3.45pm.
tw rating 3/5 | [Julian Joseph]