Move aside Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte, Belfast has its own set of straight-talking girls, in the new comedy drama from comic couple Diona Doherty and Sean Hegarty.
Sex and the City Hall follows four female civil servants who all work in Belfast City Hall.
“When they find out that one of them will be losing their job, they barricade themselves within the City Hall and there, all sorts of madness unfolds as they refuse to move, or as they say here, ‘No surrender’,” explains the 35-year-old Derry-born performer.
“Those who work together might not have chosen to be mates, but fighting together these four firmly are.
“This is the third show we’ve written together and I’m really proud of it. It’s full of gags, wit and music.
“I love leaving the theatre and seeing groups of women singing and laughing. I’m honoured to give people who are so deserving a night out away from their responsibilities.”
A big Sex and the City fan, Diona admits she was most like Miranda. “Everybody wanted to be Carrie, but I was the one who was a business b**ch, who got the sh*t done.”
Having gained all A*s in her GCSEs and As in her A-Levels, Diona lived up to her title. She contemplated studying law, before her dad “talked sense” into her and persuaded her to follow her passion for performing.
She went on to study drama at Queen’s University before landing a variety of roles, from the Irish-language film Penance and the CBBC intergalactic series Nova Jones to Derry Girls, Soft Border Patrol and Give My Head Peace.
She branched more firmly into comedy in more recent years, being the first permanent female panelist on the comedy panel show The Blame Game, and she started writing during the Covid pandemic.
Diona admits that homelife can be “full on” as step-mum to three older boys, James, Charlie and Tom and mum to three-year-old Winter and one-year-old Rocky.
As well as writing with her husband Sean, the couple also make the popular podcast Meet the Parents together.
At the time my husband and my doctor were the only ones who knew I had postnatal depression. On the one hand, I didn’t want people to worry about me, but to be honest I felt ashamed and embarrassed. I tried so long to have kids – about seven years – and I didn’t want people thinking I regretted having her
— Diona Doherty
“We do a lot together,” she chuckles. “Sometimes when we are doing stand-up together we have our children there and it is a case of passing the child and swapping mics.
“We do our podcast in our home studio in the evening when the kids are sleeping. Sometimes Sean closes the laptop and will say “fancy being my wife for the next half an hour”. It’s hard, but we’re lucky that we have the same sense of humour and drive.”
“It’s a different situation altogether if we are building some Ikea furniture,” she quickly adds.
Directed by Ciaran Nolan, of Derry Girls and London Irish fame, Sex in the City Hall features Jayne Wisener, Rosie McClelland, Mary McGurk and Jo Donnelly.
Having starred in the couple’s other comedy dramas Bridesmaids of Northern Ireland and The Hen Do, Diona decided to make a “mummy sacrifice” and not perform this time around.
“My daughter will be starting nursery in September and I want to be there to bring and pick her up during those first weeks,” she explains.
Diona never shies away from making personal experiences funny on stage. She has been very open about her fertility and IVF journey in the past, also documenting it in her one-woman show Sunny Side Up.
Diona Doherty – Got MILF, her stand-up show, shares some home truths on motherhood. Describing it as her “best stand-up” to date, she is looking forward to bringing her show to the Edinburgh Fringe, from August 1-10.
“I’m so excited. I’ve only ever done sketches there before and it’s where I met my husband back in 2012,” adds Diona, whose advice to mums of young children is to “be realistic”.
“With my first I was so regimented with scheduling and sleep patterns. But when you have these idealistic views of how you’re going to parent, you’re going to disappoint yourself. With my second, I’ve become more aware that plans change and learnt to adapt and not be devastated. And giving the preschooler an iPad for half an hour is OK.”
Diona has also been promoting the need to open the conversation about women’s intimate health issues through hosting The V Revolution video podcast.
The series, from health brand Balance Activ, features six episodes aimed at breaking down taboos and discussing everything from first periods to menopause, vaginal discharge and pregnancy.
Joining Diona was Love Island celebrity doctor Dr Priya Gopaldas and a number of guests.
“It was such a fascinating experience to discuss so many personal women’s issues so openly with some incredible women. We’d honestly go from crying with laughter straight into a really emotional conversation about the tough realities of these issues. I certainly found it eye-opening,” adds Diona.
“It was also shocking to hear about how difficult it is to diagnose endometriosis and I never heard of BV (bacterial vaginosis) before.
“Though I’m still not convinced we only lose five tablespoons of blood every period. I think I lose that every 15 minutes,” she laughs.
During the podcast, Diona confessed to being guilty of period shame and hiding her spare tampons up her sleeve: “I was on my period during that episode and straight after the recording of that episode I got up and waved my tampon at the all-male filming crew. It’s terrible how we get embarrassed and hide our sanitary products.”
Diona also shared her struggle with postnatal depression.
“At the time my husband and my doctor were the only ones who knew I had postnatal depression. On the one hand, I didn’t want people to worry about me, but to be honest I felt ashamed and embarrassed. I tried so long to have kids – about seven years – and I didn’t want people thinking I regretted having her.
“But it was a very lonely place without support, and I have been very open about it since, to try and open that sort of conversation,” adds Diona, who encourages other women not to think there is any shame in sharing their experiences.
Whilst Diona has swapped her passion for interior design for walls “covered in marker” scribbles, her ambition is to reach more people with her comedy and writing, and also to take her presenting skills to another level.
Loose Women, perhaps?
“Gosh that would be a dream, but what I would really love is to have my own late night chat show - something lighthearted and fun.”
And her dream guest line-up?
“I’d better have my Sean, as well as Steve Carell and Katherine Ryan. And I’d have loved to have interviewed the late Caroline Ahern from The Royle Family.”
