Good For Her! is a contemporary one-woman play that intimately explores the life of Iris, a 27-year-old actress and writer. Set against the backdrop of her chaotic existence, the play delves into the complexities of her relationships and her unyielding pursuit of success and fame.

The narrative is woven through a series of vignettes, starting with Iris energetically dancing on stage, symbolising her passionate yet tumultuous journey. Iris's career is portrayed through awkward and often demeaning auditions, where she faces rejection and judgment, highlighting the harsh realities of the acting world. Her mundane job at a bakery serves as a stark contrast to her lofty ambitions, underscoring her struggle to make ends meet while chasing her dreams.

A central theme of the play is Iris's toxic relationship with her mother, who is both a source of love and immense pressure. Her mother, once Iris's biggest supporter, now requires constant care due to illness, adding a layer of complexity to their relationship. Flashbacks reveal a history of her mother's relentless pursuit of perfection for Iris, including harsh criticisms about her appearance and weight. This pressure has left deep scars, manifesting in Iris's obsessive need to succeed and be validated.

Iris's obsession with success and fame is further illustrated through her fixation on a former schoolmate, Alice. Iris spends hours stalking Alice on social media, comparing their lives and feeling a mix of jealousy and inadequacy. This obsession drives Iris to question her own worth and fuels her determination to prove herself, despite the overwhelming odds.

The play uses multimedia elements, such as projected Google searches and pre-recorded Zoom calls, to enhance the storytelling and provide a window into Iris's inner world. These elements reflect her constant quest for validation and the pervasive influence of technology in her life.

Good for Her! is a raw and honest portrayal of a young woman grappling with the pressures of ambition, the desire for fame, and the emotional toll of a toxic parental relationship. It invites the audience to witness Iris's vulnerabilities, her moments of defiance, and her relentless drive to carve out a space for herself in an unforgiving world.

Persephone, an Essex girl from a concrete town, has to navigate her journey into womanhood with great difficulty. Her mother is distant and unreliable, her unstable emotions ruling the family home. The girls at school are hard and mean and set out to make Persephone miserable. Her body is changing, growing more wild and unruly, the hair on her body unable to be tamed. And a burning sense of desire hums through her in a way she doesn’t fully understand. When the figure from her dreams materialises and asks her to join them in the Underworld, she takes the opportunity to escape her life above. But whilst her sexuality blossoms and she learns to harness her powers, her mother’s grief shatters everything around her and Persephone must find forgiveness to rebuild a burning bridge. Persephone must be strong enough to embrace her mother’s pain, a woman’s pain, and reconfigure a life the world above tried to crush into something small and uncomplaining.

FringeReview: Hidden Gem 2023
"The play’s writers – Ami Sayers, Mollie Semple and Abi Smith – have melded an ancient myth with modern sexuality and relationships.... The writers know a lot about human nature"