Good Girl ⭐⭐⭐

“Leave after the first lie. That's what everyone says, isn't it? It's good advice. Because it's a lot harder to leave after the second. Or the third. With her marriage imploding, Alix makes a final, desperate attempt to keep it all together by... posting a nude. On the internet. (She doesn't show her face, she's not insane). Overnight, she finds herself catapulted into a world of kink, curiosity and – unexpectedly – the support of a community she never knew existed.”

There is something wonderfully uncomfortable about GOOD GIRL. It takes us into a setting of desire, control, kink and emotional dependency, while preserving the focus firmly on the person at the centre of it all. What begins as an interesting exploration of a relationship gradually becomes something much more emotionally complicated. And, importantly, it makes you care.

Ellie Pyleis's direction is clear, with a strong understanding of what the production wants to accomplish. The staging feels purposeful, and there is a good sense of where the audience’s attention needs to be at any given moment. The production doesn’t overcomplicate things, allowing the story and performance to remain at the centre.

The lighting is lovely. The transitions between scenes are especially effective, giving the audience a clear visual indication that we are moving somewhere new. This may sound like a small thing, but in a story that moves between different emotional and narrative spaces, those visual signposts make the production considerably easier to follow. It is simple, clear and effective.

The sound is also really nice. One highly effective element is the use of the phone. The sound design creates the convincing impression that the voice is actually coming from the phone rather than being played into the room. It is a small technical detail, but it adds considerably to the realism of those moments and helps pull us further into the character’s world.

Mimi Collins's book is mostly great. There is a lovely storyline here, and the exploration of the world of kinks is treated with genuine fascination rather than simply using it as a gimmick. More importantly, the story grips you. Throughout, there's a sense that something is constantly shifting under the surface, which keeps the audience invested in finding out where the story is going. The writing could be clearer. There are moments where I found myself slightly unsure about what was happening or how certain elements connected. A little more signposting would allow the audience to spend less time working out the mechanics of the story and more time engaging with its emotional core. And that emotional core is very much there. In fact, there are bucketfuls of emotion here. The production isn’t afraid to let the more difficult feelings sit in the room, and that gives the story a weight that lingers.

Collins's performance is wonderful. The central character is wonderfully layered, and the performer reveals those different sides gradually rather than presenting everything to us immediately. There is a huge amount of emotional charge in the performance, but it never feels like emotion for emotion’s sake. We understand why this character feels the way she does, and, crucially, we begin to care about what happens to her. By the end, you find yourself rooting for her. That is not easy to achieve, especially with complicated relationships and subject matter. Still, the performance gives the character enough vulnerability and humanity for us to invest in her journey.

GOOD GIRL is a thoughtful and emotionally charged exploration of desire, kink, control and the complicated ways people can become entangled with one another. The production is technically strong, the direction is clear, and the central performance gives us a character who is impossible not to care about. The main weakness is clarity. At times, the writing could do more to guide us through the story, but the emotional journey remains compelling enough to keep us invested. It is a show that asks questions about desire and vulnerability without reducing its characters to simple answers. And by the end, you may find yourself asking not simply “Is this relationship healthy?”, but the much more complicated question: “What would I do if I were in her position?”

GOOD GIRL plays at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. For the latest venue, performance times, dates and ticket availability, see the official Fringe listing.

🎟️ Book tickets for GOOD GIRL