‘Period Preacher’ Lucy Peach brings powerful menstrual message to all-ages Fringe show

Award-winning ‘Period Preacher’ Lucy Peach is back at Fringe World this summer with the all-ages show My Greatest Period Ever, hitting The Hat Trick at The Pleasure Garden from Saturday, February 10 until Sunday, February 18. Author of the best-selling Period Queen, Lucy Peach combines her experience as an acclaimed singer-songwriter and human biology and health educator to edutain one and all about the four hormonal phases of the menstrual cycle. BRAYDEN EDWARDS caught up with Lucy Peach to find out how she hopes to make the world more ‘cycle-centric’ with her powerful menstrual message.

It’s great to have you back at Fringe this summer! What has changed in your world since the last time you hit the Fringe stage?

Well, I’m 43 and after menstruating for over 30 years, I’m now looking ahead to the next phase of my life and making space for what that could look like. I’ve been hosting ritual dinners for women to explore their menopause journey, and it’s been an incredible experience to sit and learn.

This show, My Greatest Period Ever, has been popular for several years now! Has it changed over that time? And what do you put its longevity and popularity down to?

It’s definitely evolved; every year I get braver about including the audience more and am always blown away by their generosity and tenderness. People are just so wonderful. I also try to surprise Richard as often as possible. Last year, he was promoted to Interpretive Dance Instructor of the Do phase, and he’s never been happier! The audience has changed too, as has society; we’re moving on and accepting more, and it’s wonderful to see more celebration of menstruation tip into the mainstream.

I think after thousands of years of taboo, there are thousands of years of celebration to be had. Being cyclical and having inner seasons is a universal phenomenon for women and people with periods, and everyone who knows them experiences that too. Also, I think I’m a bit funny and good at talking about hard things—probably a survival skill that I’ve co-opted!

It’s great to see that this is an all-ages show, so everyone is welcome! What kind of feedback do you get from parents, and more importantly, from children who have been to this show?

I love seeing young families all excited and coming in together. It’s also not uncommon to see young girls with their arms folded, clearly dragged in by their mothers, who are determined that they should have a different experience to them. Winning over these ones, usually with Richard’s funny drawings, is such a thrill. I swear they walk out a bit taller and that makes me feel proud.

Sometimes I think that if you came to My Greatest Period Ever and forgot everything you saw but remembered that a woman loved her cyclic nature so much she sang about it, and a handsome man in a fancy hat who thought periods were so powerful that he drew about them every night… then maybe that kid would keep that in their brain somewhere, and it could protect them from feeling shame. It could steer them towards pride and power.

Many of us know you as a singer and musician, but you are also a human biology and health educator. What inspired you to combine these two passions of yours?

It was just a spur-of-the-moment thing to write a show. I thought it would be just like a sex-ed session but with songs, like a gig but with more talking, and then chocolate and capes and a menstrual doodler. I never thought it would take off in the way it has, but it is a never-ending source of delight for me.

And has this profession as a ‘Period Preacher’ taken you places you didn’t expect? What have been some of your highlights in sharing this important message?

There have been many. Every time I travel anywhere, I meet the most incredible people doing similar work, and with complete strangers, I have access to this amazing portal of connection—on planes, standing in queues, men in Uber drivers. Singing on stage with a group of girls all excited about getting their period one day, many of whom know the words to Your Blood is Amazing, makes me cry every time.

The biggest highlights are when young girls write to me and say, “I used to feel guilty having a nap after school; now I trust that my body needs rest." It blows me away what the ripple effect of that could be. Listening to our bodies, taking care of them without shame or judgement, and supporting others to do the same—that’s what the world needs most.

I also love when dads come to the show with their daughters and sons; it’s healing for all of us.

I hear you will be joined by your husband, Richard, for these shows too. What does he bring to the performances?

Only his absolute best. He is an excellent communicator and has been pivotal in helping me bring these menstrual messages to life. The show is half songs and half stories, and he animates the whole thing as well as mansplaining the pre-ovulatory ‘Do’ phase through interpretive dance. He’s also very handsome.

Seriously, though, he brings to light the reality that men can and should be involved in periods being accepted and revered.

You’re hoping your shows can make the world more ‘cycle-centric’. What does this mean? And what can we, as individuals and more broadly as a society, do to help?

It means that instead of fighting our nature, we embrace it. Traditionally, men and those without cycles have a more linear nature, and that has informed the way the world works. Anything else has been seen as a deficit. Well, now we can openly say that both ways are important and useful, and to achieve a balanced world, we need to use them together.

Pay attention to yourself, notice what your body needs, and find a language that works for you to communicate that with the people you love and spend time with. Many women say to me, I thought I was crazy, and this breaks my heart that our nature has been used against us. It’s a wonderful thing to know your body and to use it while you have it.

Workplace menstrual and menopause policies are becoming commonplace. Men are realising that they know very little about the women they love and are learning more. A more cycle-centric world is a kinder one.