'More fun than joining a gym and cheaper than Botox. Hot Flush might even leave you feeling 34-and-a-half again.”

The promotional blurb for Hot Flush describes it as an alternative girls’ night out, for women of a certain age.

It stars former Birds Of A Feather actress Lesley Joseph, Ruth Keeling, Anne Smith, musical theatre star Sam Kane – in a multiplicity of roles – and Hilary O’Neil, an all-round comedy vocal entertainer who’s a veteran of around 30 pantomimes.

She also does cruise ship shows, television voice-overs and impressions for greetings cards.

“I made my name on (ITV series) Copycats,” said Hilary. “For the cards I do Sybil Fawlty, Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Anne Robinson. They sell all over the world.”

In Hot Flush, Hilary plays Sylvia, an American woman married since she was 20, bored since she was 21, and desperate to make up for lost time.

“I am absolutely loving it. Sam Kane, the token boy in the show, told me I’d love it, and within three minutes of going out I was hooked,” she said. “It’s funny, it touches the hearts of women; it’s well-written, well-directed and the songs by Olly Ashmore are, well, beyond genius.

“I have never worked on anything with such clever lyrics.”

The show celebrates the menopause, something that has long been taboo, and celebrates middle-age. It’s about four women who have problems with husbands, lovers, a lack of sex or, in one case, too much of it. One thing they all have in common is that they’re all fighting ‘The Change.’ The women meet up in the Hot Flush club where the barman listens and offers advice as they discuss their various relationships with men.

The characters each deal with the menopause differently and, judging by the success of the show on previous tours, audiences who have been through it, or are going through it, can’t get enough of it. When Hilary spoke to me, the company had just completed the first leg of a UK tour.

“I’ll be seeing a lot of motorway service stations,” she said. At the conclusion of the run she has cruise shows booked for her stand-up comedy act.

Is she happy with her itinerant lifestyle?

“I adore my life and the opportunities I have. People would not believe the things I see. I am in Rio de Janeiro one day, and here I am driving to Birmingham on another,” she said.

“I love the variety of my life, but it’s to the detriment of a personal life. I am still looking for Mr Right,” she added.

Wouldn’t it be ironic if he walked into her life as a result of her role in a play about menopause?

Hot Flush is on at St George’s Hall on March 26. For tickets ring (01274) 432000.