Rating: ★★★
Venue: The Other Palace
Cast: Mollie Semple
Iris is broke, exhausted, and running out of time. She’s spent years chasing a version of success that always seems just out of reach, haunted by the belief that if she stops she’ll disappear entirely. Between humiliating auditions and obsessive doomscrolling (mostly stalking a girl from school who somehow got everything right), something darker is demanding her attention: her mother. Her mother’s voice is always ringing in her ears. Thinner, better, more. But now, as her mother grows weaker and begins to depend on her, the pressure hasn’t lifted. It’s just changed shape. And Iris is starting to unravel.
The Other Palace is one of my favourite theatre spaces in London, particularly the Studio space which is so often the home of new material and regularly where I find hidden gems in the world of theatre. The Studio space is incredibly intimate which is important to point out because while this should be a positive for this one-woman show, the direction from Kayla Stokes makes writer and performer, Mollie Semple, almost impossible to see most of the time unless you're in the front row (thankfully, we were!).
Good For Her! is a one-woman show that centres around 28-year-old Iris. After being a successful child actor, Iris is now struggling to find her purpose in life; whether that be with friends, with family, or with her career. This 75 minute straight-through piece is an extremely dark comedy, and there are several parts that are quite uncomfortable to watch, but in a positive, challenging way. When Iris' mum becomes ill and Iris becomes her sole carer, her mind starts to unravel completely.
I think the best way to describe Mollie Semple's portrayal of Iris is: unlikeable. And that's a conscious choice. She's almost like the anti-Bridget Jones, which in itself is quite refreshing. It's great to see massively flawed female characters, and at times her inner monologues were incredibly relatable. However, there were just as many, if not more, moments that created a huge disconnect between the audience and Iris, which meant little to no emotional connection to her journey. Whether or not you like the character is one thing in a one-person show, but to have no care or connection to the character whatsoever leaves little room for satisfaction or gratification at the show's end.
However, nothing can take away from what an outstanding performance Mollie Semple gave. Albeit there were a few stumbled words throughout, to hold an audience's attention for 75 minutes straight-through is no small feat. She's incredibly expressive, both facially and with body language, and it's clear she's deeply connected to the material she's written.
The writing from Mollie Semple is a mixed bag. There are moments that are deeply relatable, such as the moments with her mum whereby she discusses the overwhelming pressure she's put on Iris to look perfect from a young age, and the way we as a society compare ourselves to old friends on social media, despite having no real connection to them anymore, and the Zoom call. There are glimpses of greatness, but there just aren't quite enough to be able to rate this any higher than three stars, despite Semple's wonderful performance.
Without spoiling anything, the ending is largely unsatisfying and left me asking myself: what was the point? While being marketed as a "dark comedy", it doesn't exactly fit into that genre, because a lot of the content isn't laugh-out-loud funny, it's laughing from discomfort and awkwardness.
While there's definitely the bones of something that could be brilliant here and Semple's performance definitely being the highlight, there simply isn't anything that makes this piece standout in the world of theatre right now.
You can book tickets to Good For Her!, here.
**photo credit: Malachy Luckie**
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