Review: Woman Seeking Cuddles (Edinburgh Fringe)

Renwick McAslan’s Woman Seeking Cuddles, is currently showing at Edinburgh Festival Fringe so I went along to review it on my first night in the city.

This is a one woman show featuring Harper (played brilliantly by Hannah Strauss), who at first seems like any other young person about to leave their hometown, as she goes out to celebrate this pivotal moment in her life. When she tells us about an accidental sexual encounter with her sperm donor father (not a spoiler, this is in the show description), her life seems to unravel before the audience’s eyes.

We hear about Harper’s difficult relationship with her mother, her countless therapists and even more about people she’s tried to connect with in order to make herself feel better and, fundamentally, loved. The therapists all seem to tell her insightful things but she seems to get through them as quickly as she does the people she tries to find some level of intimacy with. This parallel is really poignant as we watch this young woman trying to find herself and understand how she fits into the world around her.

There was minimal set but a glass panel which was represented a mirror during the play was used well, not least for Harper’s seeming emotional regulation via spitting – but also useful to create a bit of a boundary between the audience and our protagonist at times when the tone shifted slightly.

The sound effects subtly helped set the scene, from message receipts to music in a nightclub, and the lighting design stood out as an effective way of showing when Harper was recalling events from different times.

As the narrative went on it became clear that Harper wasn’t the only complex character in her life, and we got to know several others who had impacted on her as she discussed her relationships and encounters, with discussion of dating apps, kink, polyamory and assault among other things.  Indeed, the show opens with part of a scenario when Harper feels unsafe, and rightly so when we later see the full extent of what happened. Sadly she's quite good at picking the walking red flag in the room.

The performance by Hannah Strauss is one that is impossible to pull your eyes away from. Somehow introducing us to multiple characters as well as Harper in various different types of situations, it was an engaging performance throughout. From playing the younger version of Harper who is just about to launch herself onto the world, to later releasing tension on the dancefloor and also being in a more formal workplace scenario, these differences were brought out by simple changes of hairstyles and energy, along with the sound and lighting I mentioned earlier.

Watching the story unfold you could mistakenly initially feel that it’s playing to shock value, however as the time goes on you find yourself really caring about this character and willing her to catch a break. The fact she had an accidental encounter with someone who turned out to be her dad has limited retelling, but this is deliberate as it shows how one moment can have such an impact on someone. The combination of extremely well-crafted writing paired with a skilled actor taking on the role results in a captivating hour of fringe theatre.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Woman Seeking Cuddles is showing at Venue 53: Stephenson Theatre at theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall until 22 August. You can buy a ticket here.

If you would like to see my curtain call photographs from this and other shows, please visit my Instagram.

I was gifted a ticket for this show in exchange for an honest review. With thanks to Rosaline H. Marketing & PR.