A poignant hobble through one journey of body acceptance.
Atkin has been through a tough three years, medically speaking. A messed-up toe might seem like the least of her worries, but, in a strange and unexpected twist, it may just be the thing that saved her life.
Crying at My Podiatrist is an hour-long dive into the messy, gritty, grief-laden experience of one woman confronting her own body and entering into a fight against her own flesh. Atkin tells her story with remarkable honesty, taking us from that first aching pain through the bewildering world of medical appointments, diagnoses, fear and uncertainty, all the way to the wonderfully mundane triumph of a healed foot with a slightly worse-for-wear nail finally grown out and healthy again.
What makes the piece so compelling is Atkin’s ability to find humour in the darkest and most uncomfortable places. The characters she encounters along the way are distinct, eccentric and genuinely hilarious, rendered with a gorgeous eye for detail and an obvious affection for the absurdity of modern medical life. There is warmth alongside the anger, tenderness alongside the grief, and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments amid the difficult subject matter.
This is a deeply personal story, but it never feels self-indulgent. Instead, Atkin opens up a space to think about illness, mortality, the strange relationship we have with our bodies, and what it means to keep going when your body suddenly becomes something you can no longer take for granted.
Funny, painful, moving and gloriously human, Crying at My Podiatrist is a brilliant piece of storytelling.
Show Listing: : https://www.edfringe.com/
LISTINGS INFORMATION:
Venue: Snug at Paradise in Augustines
Dates: Aug 8th -30th (excl 15th -16th and 22nd – 23rd )
Time: 19:40 (60 mins)
Ticket prices: £13.50 / Concessions £11.50 / Family £10.50
Fringe box office: 0131 226 0000 / www.edfringe.com
Suitable for 16+