“I'VE got a right good idea,” said the features editor.

“Let’s send that 50-something bloke who writes reviews for us into a cauldron of hate, venom and heat and see if he comes out unscathed.”

And so it transpired that this middle-aged male ventured into The Forum on Wednesday evening to see Menopause The Musical.

Leaving it to the last minute, hoping I wouldn’t be noticed, meant I was only pilloried by one hot-flushed hag on the way in.

“You're a man. What are you doing here? Are you gay?” Facing up to her stereotypical judgment, I looked her right in her bloodshot eyes and said sternly “No, are you? I'm doing the review for the Evening Mail, and you've just got yourself in it!”

It was great to see The Forum packed to the rafters and they deserve credit for getting the show to Barrow.

The musical itself centres around four women in a fictitious department store, the trials and tribulations of their advancing years and their naturally occurring drift into barrenhood.

These are the kind of women who will always put the ‘odd penny’ into the charity box. It’s not because they don’t need the money but because they already have enough change of their own.

Maureen Nolan (The Nolans), Casualty’s Rebecca Wheatley, Ruth Berkeley (The Al Murray Show) and Cheryl Fergison, who played EastEnders favourite Heather Trott, made up the cast.

This musical has been around since 2001 but I doubt in all those years that anyone could have played a part as well as Ferguson did.

She was the best of a good bunch as they delivered well-known song after song, with re-written lyrics to reflect the current problems in their lives.

Hot flushes, sleepless nights, no sex drive, too much sex drive, night sweats, they were all given some kind of musical makeover.

My personal favourites were “Help me Rhonda” carefully crafted into “Thank you Doctor” and “Only You”, which Rebecca Wheatley lovingly sang to her new vibrator.

Menopausal weight gain is obviously a big issue and the girls revamped “It’s in his kiss” to the delightful “It’s in my thighs!”

Very cleverly done throughout, nearly all the musical numbers were instantly recognisable.

The other most recognisable feature of the evening was the sound of laughter echoing around the theatre.

It was good to hear and I may have joined in more had I been a woman of a certain age.

But I remained calm, smiled politely and didn’t dare say anything controversial.

After my entry encounter, all I wanted to do was escape with my life and fortunately I lived to type another day.

It was a great show, well put together and thoroughly enjoyed by all the women and three brave men!

Review by TREVOR JONES