Writer: Mollie Semple
Director: Kayla Stokes
Good for Her! tells Iris’ story through the rejections and pained comparisons that come from being an actor in their late twenties. The show is pieced together with a careful hand by writer and performer Mollie Semple, who not only understands how to form a show on paper to lure audiences in but also knows how to execute that vision. Iris is, in many ways, an unlikable character, but in her openness about her flaws, she wins the audience over at every turn, even when she does the unthinkable. This is captured perfectly by projections of the weirder things that Iris googles. She puts the audience at arm’s length, but her radical honesty brings the audience in close.
Good for Her is often at its most interesting when it comments on modern life through Iris’ many flaws. She engages in a parasocial relationship with a former best friend on Instagram. But some may call it stalking. Semple’s script treads a fine line between the two. She muses well on the dichotomy of the modern relationship with body size. How can she reconcile body positivity in the age of Ozempic? The greatest strength of the script and performance is the intensity of the tension between Iris and her mum. The crushing expectation, the lack of clear expressions of love, the care and caring despite it all.
The script feels less strong in some of its examples of dementia, not all of which ring true. Towards the latter half of the play, certain aspects describe the feelings Iris has when Semple could afford to trust herself as a performer to embody those feelings without the need to say them aloud. But Semple’s script, and Iris, win us back with their pinpoint portrayal of a desire for fame and success in your late twenties. At that point, is it embarrassing to want to chase your dreams still? Will anyone care if you make it at 29, or is that not impressive anymore? Good for Her aims directly and unflinchingly at that difficult feeling.
A script that ends like this one could very easily create an awkwardness that cannot be overcome in a small theatre. But director Kayla Stokes has worked brilliantly with Semple to drive the energy through the climax to an ending that lifts the audience, even when Iris has made things heavy. Good for Her! is just like its subject matter: flawed in a very likeable way.
Reviewed on 23 July 2025
