Harriet Richardson @ Pleasance Courtyard
Harriet Richardson's debut Fringe hour Creep is an engrossing account of parasocial obsession
Harriet Richardson's status as a performance artist and the notoriety of her Temporary piece (a tattooed list of the mothers' names of every man she's ever slept with) could suggest a rather intense presence, but in reality, she's very personable, with a keen eye for the absurd. Richardson might invoke Marina Abramović, the rather self-serious doyen of performance art, but she brings an amused and forthright energy to this engrossing account of parasocial obsession.
The venture into stand-up is a new one but it's not unwarranted, given Richardson's interest in intimacy. She honours the contract with the crowd with a satisfying air of indiscretion, skirting close to revealing the famous object of the obsession that ends her long-term relationship and blows up her life. In the wake of her break-up, a series of UPS delivery photos incidentally tracks her recovery. Excavating the photos for moments of herself free from performance, Richardson finds an absurd detail that becomes the touchstone for the freedom from male approval she seeks.
Richardson's good at capturing life online, scoffing at the idea it somehow doesn't count. Her work inevitably prompts hate, but there's plenty of amusing pushback to the bile – including support from her two boys, recruits in her projects: sweet Rev MacPherson and stolid private investigator Michael Evidence. Evidence was part of the Temporary piece, while Rev MacPherson was enlisted when she bombarded the church opposite her gym with inspirational slogans for their signage (sample idea: "there's only one CrossFit man in this town"). Eventually the sign was changed: "Harriet, will you please stop emailing".
Richardson is obviously just getting started and she's got range and ambition (our answer to Miranda July, perhaps?). Now the manacles of obsession are unlocked, she's unstoppable.
Harriet Richardson: Creep, Pleasance Courtyard (Below), until 30 Aug, 7pm, sold out; extra show at Pleasance Courtyard (Pleasance One), 22 Aug, 10.45pm