The Good Dad (A Love Story)

The Good Dad (A Love Story) is an ironically titled play about the effect of an abusive father on a family. In this one woman show, Sarah Lawrie effectively plays three female members of the family, differentiating them by subtle changes of clothing, to portray their surprisingly different perspectives of the story. The narrative is so disturbing that it seems barely credible but it is based on real events and conveyed well by the actor. As she explains at the end, the play is produced in support of the charity Victim Support and is an impressive and worthy production.

Very moving and powerful. A great performance.

A masterclass in acting and how to deliver a disturbing subject with a thought provoking script.

A hard-hitting piece about a hard subject. Very skilfully acted and leaving much food for thought beyond the initial, instinctive revulsion at the situation described.
We need to continually revisit these issues as society seems poorly equipped to stop them happening but we must keep trying.

Based upon a true story there can be no justification for this terrible behaviour. It raises many questions about how this could ever have happened, and continued to happen. Why did nobody speak out? Not even the Mother. A highly powerful performance form Gail Louw, a talented and impressive actress.

Fabulous performance dealing with incest, coercive control and domestic abuse. The very talented actress plays all the characters convincingly. Be prepared to be gripped, disturbed and entertained. A ‘must see’ show.

The Good Dad (A Love Story) (****)
A woman plays many family members in a story about a twin sister who has four children by her father. This powerful true story does a good job of delving into the group denial and personal abuse that allows such things to happen. The twin sister character demonstrates how even an un-abused person can be affected.


This is the23rd most enjoyable of the 62 shows I have seen so far at the Fringe this year. I hope to see almost 200. You may see my other three-sentence reviews, in order from most enjoyable to worst, at my non-commercial website: https://fringefan.com/

Watched 3 shows on 2 for 1 Monday with my friend : IMA, Best of Cabaret and The God Dad, all 3 were superb. BUT both of us agreed this one is the top notch. The amazingly talented and skilled actress delivered a memorising performance thou the subject is quite disturbing.

This is a stunning performance, incredibly powerful. It isnt a show I can say I "liked" because of the subject matter, but wow what a performance - so intense, sparse, flawless, beautifully done. The Fringe at its best, definitely recommend adding this to your mix for a stunning, memorable performance that will move you.