How would you describe your show to someone discovering it for the first time at the Fringe? The raw, funny and striking story of one woman’s chaotic search for love in a modern, dating-app-dominated world where polyamory rules and destiny feels algorithm-driven. What moment, idea or frustration first sparked this show into existence? A date, during which a young woman showed me a photo of her sperm-donor father (who she never met) before admitting that she’d have sex with him. How has the show evolved from its earliest idea to what audiences will see now? It has reduced in length greatly and now presents as a tight show, full of performance, plenty of punch and bags of heart. What makes Edinburgh Fringe the right place for this show right now? Edinburgh has such a prestigious history of captivating one-person shows. It offers immediacy and impact of storytelling. We’re honored to be a part of it. What does bringing this particular show to the Fringe represent for you personally? There is so much of ‘me’ in this play and I’ve dreamed of bringing a show to Fringe for years. It’s a giant milestone for me, personally and I’m so very grateful to the city and program. What has been the most unexpectedly challenging part of getting this show to Edinburgh? Ensuring that on-the-ground details are finalized prior to performance. We’re a small but mighty and determined team. If audiences leave the venue holding onto one thing, what do you hope it is? Hope itself is a powerful tool for creating empathy within themselves. How do you think performing this show during a Fringe run will shape it? I think, because of the immediacy of the performance and intensely small distance between single performer and audience we’ll get a clear indication of how it’s received. Who do you hope this show finds at the Fringe? I hope it’s seen, laughed at, cried over and remembered within a brilliant and varied program. Finally, if this show came with a warning label, what would it say? Warning: This show will make you feel unexpected feelings. It will make you laugh when you could cry, cry when you could laugh and will almost certainly leave you wanting to give or receive…a cuddle. Woman Seeking Cuddles runs at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 7th-22nd August 2026 (except 16th).
Next in our Edinburgh Fringe interview series, we speak to Emmy-nominated writer Ren McAslan, whose show Woman Seeking Cuddles is appearing at the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The piece is described as: “Harper unknowingly slept with her sperm-donor father. After that, nothing was ever quite the same. Making its Edinburgh Fringe debut from New York City, this darkly comic, confessional one-woman show traces that event’s fallout – as shame, grief and reckless desire collide in one woman’s messy, defiant search for love.”
