Good For Her at The Other Palace Review

Written by Emily K-N for Theatre and Tonic

Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review. All views are our own

Content guidance: Violence, bodily fluids, body image, allusion to sexual violence.

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Having had a run at Theatre503 last summer, actor and writer Mollie Semple brings her one woman show, Good for Her!, to The Other Palace’s studio theatre. 

Semple portrays 28 year old actor, Iris, who it turns out was a child star who’s struggling to book jobs as an adult. Iris is battling feelings of inadequacy and comparing herself to others, whilst also being quite self-obsessed, particularly with body image. We soon learn that these feelings have been influenced by Iris’s critical, somewhat toxic, mother. We hear her mum’s voice (Jacquetta May) at various points throughout the piece, used to complement Iris’s recount of various memories from childhood, through to more recent days. Iris is soon forced to confront some demons when her mum becomes unwell and she becomes her main carer, leading to a dramatic conclusion as pressure comes to a head. 

Semple has a warm, confident presence which means it is easy to engage with the story for the most part. The moments where Iris is obsessing over an old friend from school, Alice, are particularly effective and funny. Semple’s writing is good, but her, at times, speedy delivery of the material meant that some words were stumbled over at this particular performance. A very easy fix, and the performance was still an engaging one.

Kayla Stokes’ direction utilises the small space well and ensures both sides of the audience are addressed when Semple is speaking directly to us. It would be interesting to see the piece in a larger space, in terms of whether more set pieces could be added to depict different locations etc.  

Sound and visual elements are used well, most notably projections of Iris’s Google search history, providing a deeper insight into her thoughts and feelings, a lot of the time to comedic effect. 

Funny, but also quite dark in places, this is a well written piece of theatre, performed with energy and enthusiasm. 

Good For Her is playing at The Other Palace until 26 July.

★ ★ ★