TOYAH Willcox returns to Wirral next week in a show which takes a humorous look at the ups and downs of life for women in the 21st Century.

The Birmingham-born singer, actress and reality TV star - who hit the charts in 1981 with It's A Mystery and I Want To Be Free and appeared in The Who-inspired 1979 film Quadrophenia - plays the lead role in Hormonal Housewives, which will be staged at the Floral Pavliion in New Brighton on Tuesday, April 16.

It features hilarious all-new sketches and the best bits from the show’s last tour.

It looks at everything that makes today’s woman tick or feel ticked off; the joys of teenagers, the hell of IKEA, the madness of holiday reps and the insanity of DIY.

Toyah told the Globe: "The show’s going really well, in fact it's going down an absolute storm.

"Our audiences are mainly women. That’s not to say men aren’t allowed to come and see it, it's just that it tackles a lot of issues faced by women that some men may feel uncomfortable with.

"It's not a feminist show, in fact it’s an absolute scream.

"The shows are generally selling out and the feeback really is about jaws dropping because it is so funny."

From punk princess to high priestess of TV, Toyah is a gifted performer. Charismatic, outspoken and impossible to categorise, she is one of Britain's household names.

In a career spanning 30 years, Toyah has had 13 top 40 singles, recorded 20 albums, written two books, appeared in more than 40 stage plays, made ten feature films and presented such diverse television programmes as The Good Sex Guide Late, Watchdog and Songs Of Praise.

It all began for Toyah in her hometown Birmingham in 1977 when film director Derek Jarman offered her the role of "Mad" in seminal punk epic Jubilee.

She continued to gain strong roles, appearing alongside Katherine Hepburn in the film, The Corn is Green, as well as playing 'Monkey' in the legendary Quadrophenia.

She teamed up with Jarman again to play Miranda in his innovative version of The Tempest, which won her a nomination as Best Newcomer at the 1980 Evening Standard Awards.

Over the next two decades, as well as consolidating her reputation as a singer songwriter Toyah also forged ahead with a career as a stage performer.

Notable credits include the lead in Trafford Tanzi; Sally Bowles in Cabaret; Three Men and a Horse; the UK tour of Arthur Smith's Live Bed Show; the title role in Calamity Jane, which came to the Liverpool Empire as part of a UK tour and most recently starring as the Devil Queen in the hugely successful rock show, Vampires Rock.

Her last visit to Wirral was for a greatest hits show at Jack Rabbit Slims in Hoylake in 2011.

Tickets for Tuesday’s performance of Hormonal Housewives, which starts at 7.30pm, are from the Floral Pavilion box office on 666 0000.