This piece, written and performed by Debbie Bird, is an unabashed look at what a menopausal woman may feel about sex, love, relationships, body image fascism, and much more.
No punch is left unpulled as she looks in considerable detail into the uses or otherwise of sex toys (hence the ambiguous title), the feelings around the disappointments of unfulfilling sex, her painful emotional insecurities about herself and how she looks, her perceived failures in relationships, and her attempts to deal with it all, with the help, or more often lack of it, from various people, male and female, in her life from schooldays on.
It is told with total frankness, but also with plenty of humour about the ridiculousness of sex sometimes, and the myriad embarrassing situations that the workings of the female reproductive system can cause.
But most of all it is about feelings, the desire to love and be loved, and above all to feel lovable.
Open, honest, and without self-pity, it tells the tale of her ultimately successful battle to come to terms with, and appreciate, without arrogance, her own worth.
A valuable message for everyone, man or woman.
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Reviewer: John Christopher Wood | Star rating: ****