How to enjoy the Menopause

I’ve been Anne Gildea all my life and for some of that time I’ve also been Nuala. As one of the shiny-dressed, musical-comedy trio, The Nualas, I warbled my way around the globe, showing off just how sassy Irish harmonising country girls, all called Nuala, could be.

Now as Anne Gildea I’ve been touring for the past three years with my one woman show How to Get the Menopause and Enjoy it. For a show that was born out of a sense of endings, it has come a long way.  

March 2020, Covid had arrived, after decades on the road The Nualas had concluded, and the day before the announcement of the first lockdown was my 54^th birthday. Much as I might have thought of 30 as the new 20, and 40 the new 20 and 50 the new whatever – there was something about being mid-50s that most definitely left parallels with being 20ish behind and, especially with the world in pandemic panic, began to draw into focus a sense of final horizons, however distant.

So, with doom as the fire in my belly, and less than nothing to lose, I started creating The Next Thing.  Choosing the ‘M’ word was initially a call out to the audience I was interested in talking to: Women! Women with a few years under their belts, up for having a laugh about the quirks and pitfalls of female midlife. All game, and no shame.

However, as I researched the menopause the project turned into something unexpected: An education. I was stunned by my ignorance about menopause, of its ramifications, of how common that lack of knowledge is, not just amongst women, but the medical professionals, and of how negatively such information gaps impact women, particularly in relation to the role HRT can play.  

Along the way I discovered the reason for those unexplained bodily changes that accumulated as I pushed past 40. For example, the unaccountable weight-gain. Despite zero change in my cake eating habits I was piling on the weight, it was goodbye size 10/12, hello support knickers. As a woman’s body ceases to produce oestrogen, it simultaneously tries to hold onto it, and oestrogen is stored in her body fat. Basically, your body is taking the piss, who knew?

Other symptoms were vertigo, change in body odour, vaginal dryness, low mood, irritability, forgetfulness, brain fog, tinnitus, hearing loss, loss of libido, loss of drive, energy and motivation, general fatigue, urinary urgency, the new moustache…. As you can see, a veritable comedy gold mine.

The stories and symptoms women share with me after performances continue to educate me. Itchy ears anyone?

Framing menopause as ‘reverse puberty’ the show delves deeply into the shared history of women of my generation. It is informative, true, communal, and big on laughs. It is an absolute joy and honour to have created a show that is having such a positive effect with so many women.

And not just women, as one lady commented on social media: “I enjoyed it so much I went a second time and brought the husband. He had tears streaming down his face with laughter.”

Which goes to prove, (as I say in the show) that Menopause is an inclusive condition: you don’t have to get it to suffer from it.

How to Get the Menopause and Enjoy it, will be at The Exchange in Twickenham 16th and 17th May. Later this year Anne will accompany Dr. Louise Newson on her UK theatre tour, Hormones and Menopause – The Great Debate from  26^th September – 12^th November 2024. Further information here.