Bloody funny _{by Madelaine Empson}

Femme fatale? Try Femme Natale. The adults-only sketch-comedy play on parenthood was born when Fingal Pollock was working as a clown doctor at the Wellington Children’s Hospital alongside Jeremy Nelson.

“I was learning all about comedy in the hardest environment possible to do comedy in! And I was pregnant, birthing, and breast-feeding twice during this time. This combination heightened my awareness of the comedy of having little children whilst it was happening and I was able to capture those moments and write them down.”

At the same time, Pollock was involved in the women-led sketch comedy show Hens’ Teeth and says she saw how (bloody) funny women could be. “Hens’ Teeth is also where I met fellow Femme Natale comediennes Tracey Savage and April Phillips.”

Hilariously truthful and fiercely unapologetic, Femme Natale received rave reviews and even saw the cast head to Ediburgh Festival Fringe, where Pollock enjoyed flyering on the Royal Mile dressed as a giant boob. For promotional purposes, of course.

Now, the team returns to BATS Theatre with Femme Natale: The Queen Years from the 28^th of May to the 1^st of June. Filled with sketches on everything from sex drives to Karens, internet dating to head lice, the brand-new show tracks the extraordinary years in a parent’s life once baby is born, begging the question: what happens after the happily ever after?

Pollock hopes audiences leave with a sense of “the cathartic power of being authentically reflected”.

“There’s so much going on for your average parent it’s a wonder we survive at all”, she exclaims. “Knowing that you’re not in it alone is half the weight gone. That, and giving everyone an excuse for a night out because we deserve it!”