Comedy play Mum's The Word revealing the secrets of motherhood comes to New Theatre Royal in Portsmouth

Touring the UK this autumn, it stars Gemma Bissix of EastEnders and Hollyoaks fame, the comic actress Sarah Dearlove from Housewives on Holiday and introduces the talented Amy Ambrose.

Three mums share stories too embarrassing and too personal to tell even their closest friends. Based on experiences all mothers share, this is group therapy like never before. This is the stuff nobody tells you about parenthood – until it’s too late. Whether it’s leaving the house without your bra, crying in the supermarket aisles for no reason, or secretly thinking you had given birth to ET.

Gemma joined the cast of EastEnders to play Clare Bates aged just nine, playing the character on and off for 15 years. She also played the villainous Clare Devine in Hollyoaks for several years.

She is now also a mum-of-two.

On the day she spoke with The Guide, Gemma found herself on day two of rehearsals for the show with only an hour-and-a-half’s sleep and a story worthy of entry into the play.

And Gemma reveals she still has a piles cushion tied to her from the rehearsals, ‘but it is only a prop, thankfully.’

When asked if she’s drawn on her own experience for the show, Gemma says: ‘Funnily enough I left my daughter being sick this morning. She was up throwing up all night – you can't get away from it!

‘My husband had to take the day off work because I said I can't not go into the second day of rehearsals.

‘I've not had this happen in seven years. But I could come in with my own stories this morning about cleaning up red vomit at 2am. Lovely! In hindsight, don't give your kid chicken korma before they're going to be sick, but then we didn't know they were going to be sick…’

Gemma then goes on to tell a rather gross – and amusing all these years later – anecdote about an abundance of poo on a caravanning holiday.

‘I'm able to draw on many an experience for this play, that's for sure,’ she laughs.

Although the trio of actresses had only met once before rehearsals began to shoot some promotional pictures, Gemma says the chemistry is already there.

‘You can definitely see it on stage if people don't get on, especially with something like this. It's about mothers, it's about experiences and warmth and sadness and comedy – if we didn't get on then it wouldn't work. We are playing set characters, but we have three characters each and it's us telling stories about nappy soup or about contractions, there's even a penis puppet.’

Gemma is keen to stress it’s not just for women though.

‘It's not women having a go at men and the fathers for not doing anything. My dad's coming to see it and my husband's coming to see it, and they will find it very funny because it's about both sides. It takes the mickey out of women as much as men. It's not about a "girl-power" kind of chauvinism, it's funny for all sides.’

After this tour finishes Gemma is straight into rehearsals for her second year directing and starring in panto at Princes Theatre in Clacton-on-Sea.

‘When I did it last year it was my first professional directing job, and I played the fairy. I've been asked to come back and do it again so I can't have done anything too wrong! I'm 39, and having been on EastEnders from the age of nine, I suddenly realised, I can do this.

‘I said to my husband, because I like football, I said I want to be a bit like a Glenn Hoddle player-manager for a little while. I don't want to go straight into the managerial side, I wouldn't want to just direct it. I like to be part of the show still and do the performing – I'm not going to be letting go of the acting any time soon.’

Mum’s The Word is at New Theatre Royal in Portsmouth on Wednesday, September 14, 7.30pm. Go to newtheatreroyal.com.