Maria Telnikoff’s heartfelt one-woman show encourages the audience to look at the trans experience from a different perspective. Funny, thoughtful and sincere, this play draws on real-life experience and challenges the heteronormative.
Written and performed by Telnikoff, it is clear that our bubbly protagonist is luckier than many. She has two parents that love her and a best friend she can tell anything to: however as she grows up and begins to realise that her family is not “the norm”, shame and a need for secrecy creep in.
Using a schoolroom-style list of years to show the passage of time, the story moves back and forth between key moments in Maria’s childhood. Each scene is cleverly written and confidently performed, with Telnikoff playing a host of characters that are each well drawn. In an awkward French lesson where she finds her language limited by the binary, her portrayal of a conversation with her irritated teacher is particularly memorable.
At the heart of the story is acceptance. Maria’s fear of not fitting in gives way to a need to proudly claim her dad, followed by a key decision to trust her friend with the “secret”. If her journey to understand their place in the world seems complicated, her relationship with her dad seems anything but. The array of father’s day cards that in no way represent her are a stark reminder of the stereotypical interests attributed to men – golf, cars, drinking. Where is the beautiful dad who wears lipstick and louboutins?
My Dad Wears a Dress is both funny and touching in equal measure. Sometimes the delivery lacks pace and dynamism, but the storytelling is always strong and sincere. A timely reminder that parents come in all shapes, sizes and genders – and that in the end, love is love is love.
By Deborah Klayman
My Dad Wears a Dress plays at Underbelly Cowgate, Edinburgh until August 27th, 2023.
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