Crissy Rock coming to Derry with Menopause the Musical 2

The play will be coming to Derry as part of the Irish tour, which starts in Athlone on Wednesday and will appear in 14 theatres throughout the country. Crissy Rock spoke to the ‘Journal’ from her hotel in Birmingham after the English leg of the tour.

Crissy said: “The show has been going fabulous so far, I’ve been having the best time! There hasn’t been any disagreements or fallouts between the cast for the whole tour, which is funny because we’re all hormonal women! But thankfully no one is being hormonal to anyone else.”

Menopause has been kept under wraps for years and many women feel they are unable to talk about it with their peers. Crissy says that things are changing now and people are finally beginning to recognise the hardships menopausal women go through. She said: “There’s some sort of debate going through parliament now where women could be allowed to take days off if they’re suffering from stress or lack of sleep, so it’s being acknowledged now. Hundreds of years ago we were all burnt at the stake for being hormonal but now, you can get medication patches and things to help you. My daughter is in her 40s and when she complains about things, I tell her ‘welcome to old age.’

“People can see themselves in the characters and people send messages about the show and how amazing it’s been. So you don’t realise how it does affect other people. Nobody ever talks about it and I, myself felt so lonely because no one ever talks about it. I thought it was happening to just me. This is four womens’ stories of them going through the menopause, they’ve all got their own story to tell but people are watching it and saying ‘I get that’ or ‘that happens to me too.’

“It’s amazing to be back on a stage, no one has worked in this industry for over two years so to come back is lovely. In Birmingham, we had 2,000 people come to see us in one day and that was unbelievable. Everyone wants out now but imagine you were cooped up for two years and you’re hormonal as well.

“It’s such a funny play, even reading through it, I was in stitches. I’m so honoured to be in it, especially with it being a musical. That being said, you have Nicki French, who was on Eurovision, Susie Fenwick who was on the West End and Rebecca Wheatley who has a voice to die for and then there’s me, who’s had three singing lessons. I stick to the low notes...

“I came to do a comedy show in Belfast before but I’ve never been to Derry. I’ve been to parts of Ireland for day here and there but I haven’t been in Ireland for this length of time before so I’ve never had the chance to see the country. We’re doing loads of shows on this tour but I’m sure I’ll see a little bit of Ireland too. I’m looking forward to having a Guinness and I think we’ll have loads of ‘craic!’

“I hope everyone who comes can see a bit of themselves in the show and understand why they’re going nuts - it’s normal!”

Menopause the Musical 2 will be in the Millennium Forum on May 22 and tickets are available at Millenniumforum.co.uk