Hormonal Housewives

Theatre Royal, Brighton

Wednesday, June 26

Hormonal Housewives is a witty, topical, rude and extremely funny three hander starring Vicki Michelle (’Allo ’Allo, Emmerdale) with Josephine Partridge (Top Girls) and co-writer Julie Coombe. The Argus spoke to the women about the show.

Julie, what inspired you and your husband John MacIsaac to write Hormonal Housewives?

Julie: I was inspired more than a little by West End theatre producer Michael Harrison (Annie, Bodyguard, Fiddler On The Roof) who said “you have to write a show” and when I said what about he said “anything as long as it’s funny” and I said well my life’s funny and he said “well do that then”.

Hormonal Housewives is about so many situations John and I have found ourselves in over the years such as our kids growing up and the different worlds they seem to inhabit on a daily basis where you practically have to learn a new language to communicate with them.

I had done Vagina Monologues and I wanted to do something about people being thrown into situations that they might not be comfortable in, roles they play, and about women being each other’s therapists.

Ultimately I said to John I love spending time with my friends and he said I love spending time with your friends they’re far more interesting than guys.

Vicki, what appealed to you about the script of Hormonal Housewives when you first read it?

Vicki: The title. I thought, this is different, I haven’t done anything like this before – this has got to be fun.

The script is hilarious and it was immediately appealing to be involved in a show which has laugh-out-loud moments.

It’ll obviously appeal to women whether or not they’re in a relationship and, crucially, to women of all ages.

And I think it’ll appeal to men as well. Men want to know what makes us tick hormonally, if they don’t understand that one week out of the month we’re a bit cranky, then they might learn something and try and understand that it’s not them…well, not entirely.

Josephine: It’s funny, it’s relatable and doesn’t take itself too seriously.

As an actress, I cannot wait to perform it, and as an audience member it is going to be a really great night of silly fun.

Tell us about your characters

Josephine: My character is fantastic. She is very down to earth, reasonable and I think she keeps the others grounded, or tries to most of the time.

There are certainly aspects of her that are very similar to me – we’re both gym freaks and we both love Poldark and Tom Hardy.

Julie: My character is like me in that she’s happily married and incredibly comfortable in that relationship which allows her to poke fun at it as well.

The character is a sort of heightened version of me.

Vicki: She is loosely based on me – I would hate to say everything’s true to life in case I get into trouble with my husband – ha ha.

Julie’s done an amazing job of basing each character on each of us as much as possible.

For instance my character and I both love a glass of fizz, we adore talking to our female friends and obviously a glass of wine or fizz makes the experience even more enjoyable.

I also share some experiences with my character in terms of family so it’s lovely to be able to bring some of myself to the stage.

What are the key issues addressed in the show?

Vicki: Lots of things – marriage, emotions, relationships, families, guilt complexes, hormones for all ages.

And eating habits – you know how you reach for the chocolate when you feel tired or your energy is low, well there’s a lot of that.

Julie: Body issues is one: my character is always talking about losing half a stone while the other two talk about losing weight even though they don’t need to – and we all know someone like that.

Another issue is about women dressing for other women rather than men – men don’t seem to notice what you’re wearing.

And dating – Josephine’s character is looking for love – or rather the other two are trying to push her back on to the dating scene after her divorce.

Whatever age you are it’s difficult looking for love, that basic human instinct never changes.

We have fun onstage trying to work out how to use dating apps – it’s a minefield.

Josephine: There are lots of issues raised in the show: the power of friendship, the stereotypical differences between men and women, the struggles women face including PMS, waxing, keeping the body beautiful, bodily functions, hormones at all ages and the things we women deal with at all stages of our lives.

The show is like opening a door on all the secret things in life that we generally spend so much time worrying about and laughing at them instead.

Do you have a favourite scene?

Julie: I’d defy anyone not to love the gym scene.

It’s wild and abandoned and features fun and humiliation in the gym and me in a fabulous pink velour track suit.

Vicki: The waxing scene is going to be hysterical. Julie and I try and encourage Josephine to get back on the dating scene; she’s newly divorced and a bit hesitant.

There’s a whole discussion about how much excess hair to wax – I don’t want to give too much away but I get to play the “waxer”.

What are you most looking forward to about going on tour?

Josephine: I can’t wait to share the show with as many different people and locations as possible.

I am excited to see whether the reactions are the same regardless of location.

Vicki: It’s so great to be in a script that you know is funny and that the audience is going to love. There’s nothing better than laughter to cure everything – so hopefully we’re going to laugh onstage, the audience are going to have a laugh and we’ll still be laughing when we have a glass of wine together after the show. I’m also looking forward to performing in a lot of places I’ve been before – I’ve got lots of friends all over the country and although it’s a tight schedule we’re going to fit in seeing friends too.

I’m also really looking forward to working with lovely Julie and Josephine.

Julie: Road trips with the girls, meeting audiences all over the country and making thousands of new friends.