Menopause? Seriously? WTF? 

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Kat thought they were far too young to worry about menopause; biology thought differently. Now their hormones are going haywire, their diary is full of NHS visits and sleep is a distant memory. Join Kat on a journey featuring anxiety, insomnia, and self-conscious jogging as they explore their changing identity, question societal expectations of age and gender, and do their best to navigate the first chaotic year.

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Interweaving music, movement and medical texts with original poetry and animation, Dry Season is a witty, honest and intimate spoken word theatre show about questioning assumptions and learning to rewrite your story. 

 

 

Kat Lyons (they/them) is a Queer Bristol-based writer, performer, workshop facilitator and creative producer whose work is grounded in everyday politics and a love of storytelling. They are the current Bristol City Poet (2022-2024) and were nominated for the Jerwood Poetry in Performance Award 2022. Kat’s debut collection Love Beneath the Nails was published in Feb 2022 by Verve Poetry Press. They perform widely at poetry nights, festivals and events throughout the UK. 

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CREATIVE TEAM

Written & Performed by Kat Lyons

Dramaturgy & Movement Direction by Laura Dannequin

Lighting Design by Sarah Readman

Animation & Animation Design by Edalia Day

Photography by Suzi Corker

Tour produced by Rua Arts

Funded by Arts Council England
Supported by Artspace Lifespace, Camden Peoples Theatre and Apples & Snakes. With thanks to Bristol Ferment

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Dry Season was written in response to Kat’s diagnosis and early experience of premature menopause at the age of 39, following 18 months of undiagnosed symptoms including chronic insomnia, depression, and paranoid anxiety.

 

Through internet forums, surveys and interviewing menopausal women, Kat discovered that their initial feelings of shame, isolation and ignorance were shared by countless others. Despite being an experience shared by half of humanity, due to systemic agism and misogyny, menopause is widely seen as something embarrassing and shameful. If it’s mentioned publicly at all, then it’s often the punchline of misogynistic jokes. 

Dry Season was created in an attempt to counter this. Kat uses their autobiographical journey to explore societal expectations of age and gender, and to create space for open discussion and wider representation of menopause. Dry Season aims to generate knowledge and empathy between people of different ages, genders, and experiences.

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Dry Season toured 16 venues from Spring 2022 - Spring 2023 For more info on Kat's work click HERE