NOSEJOB (⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑) is a farcical play set in a world with a ridiculous premise: a disembodied nose becomes a billionaire by marketing synthetic noses to a population that wants to cut off its own. Based on Nikolai Gogol’s The Nose, originally set in 1800s Russia, this adaptation updates the story to the modern day, skewering the insidious interplay of body obsession, social media and class systems.

Those underlying themes sit deep within a presentation that is fundamentally a pageant of absurd set pieces depicting a world gone crazy over smells, sniffs and scents. Nosejob works at this level of silliness, one that evokes the likes of Monty Python and Viz, and the trio of actors, Adam Pearce, Estefany Perez and Abi Price carry the comedy with bombastic delivery that has the audience on side from the start.

Yet as the play progresses, a certain unease builds, as you realise that the ludicrous scenarios on display are merely a dark mirror of our own world. Sure, there’s a talking nose involved, but his snotty arrogance and ability to set the media agenda starts to feel all too familiar. By the end, the play has evolved into full-blown subversion and even invites the audience themselves to partake in the incendiary climax.

In many ways Nosejob was what I had been searching for at the fringe this year when it came to theatre. There are plenty of plays that are very capable of taking us from A to B with a workmanlike technical proficiency but without any sort of underlying message or theme that has been pushed or problematised by the performance. There are also other plays that attempt to wear their politics on their sleeves, yet this often results in a shallow satire, that can only extend to a shallow tribalism that tells us certain individuals are bad but not why.

Nosejob on the other hand, is the sort of visionary and bespoke theatre that the Fringe, as an institution and as a place on the margins of society, desperately needs. It’s not a lecture, and neither is it spectacle for spectacle’s sake. Conceived and created by the Heads on Crooked theatre company, who put on last year’s gem Mushroomification (Legs, Legs, Legs), Nosejob embodies the spirit of the Fringe as a place for experimental art that wants to make a statement. This is your sign to go see new writing, and what’s sure to be a true word-of-nose recommendation.

Bathroom (⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑), the debut play by writer and director Yijing Zou, is a portrait of the Chinese student experience in Britain.

It centres on a young couple living in a small London flat, facing the trials of what it means to live somewhere but still feel like an outsider. Britain, in this story, is a place of opportunity and potential career connections — but also of microaggressions, job rejections, and well-meaning but repetitive small talk that never bears fruit. A recurring theme of the play is the somewhat transient nature of this experience: the characters often remark that they’ve been here for years but still don’t feel as if it’s home.

But as the play develops, what begins as a sociological story becomes a more intimate portrait of a relationship that feels as if it’s hanging on by a thread, and the battle that takes place over an evening for the couple to save it.

The stage itself is as small and intimate as the story, and makes creative and refreshingly sparing use of a video screen, adding depth to the stage presence. Yet at the heart of the show are two strong performances by actors Bowen Sun and Jinyu Dan, whose intimate portrayal of domestic life is performed with such intimacy and guarded emotion, it adds a voyeuristic element to the audience’s gaze as we witness the private life of a couple who have taken off their public masks and are stripped down to their authentic selves.

If there’s a weak point it’s probably the final third, which I felt needed a stronger climax as the ending came somewhat abruptly.

A somewhat autobiographical tale from the director, Bathroom is perhaps one of the first authentic expressions of the Chinese student experience in Britain, an experience rarely made visible in the media. A brilliant debut.

Supposing (⭑⭑⭑☆☆), a new play by Zinnie Harris, follows Sally, an average, everyday woman who begins to receive premonitions about the future. With a strong nod to Greek oracles, the story is set in modern Britain and has a strong political backbone.

Sally’s husband, Rich, is a member of the local council responsible for housing asylum-seekers, and the next-door neighbour is a bigoted old lady who, we’re told, has a flag up in her window. There is some useful political commentary here: Rich’s insistence on toeing the centrist line has dragged him further and further right, as the spectre of a fascist government looms over the country.

Yet while the progressive politics the play espouses are good, they are inserted into the script in an often heavy-handed or awkward manner as if the writer’s mouthpiece were crowbarred in. The Greek mythology conceit doesn’t really add any depth to the play and comes across as a gimmick.

Nevertheless this is a good play: the characters are consistent and well developed, and the play hits its stride when the two leads, Nicole Cooper and Richard Conlon, are verbally duelling like only married couples can, bringing great chemistry to sharply scripted dialogue.

Worth seeing for the performances, but the story needed refinement.

Nosejob runs at Paradise Green until August 30. Tickets: edfringe.com.

Supposing runs at Traverse Theatre until August 30. Tickets: traverse.co.uk.