Sh*t Life Crisis is a sing-along dark comedy celebrating the friendships that carry us through life's messiest moments. Featuring hits from Chappell Roan, Icona Pop, Avril Lavigne and more!
Here’s a heartfelt, heartwarming Q&A with actors Florence Odumosu (Grace) and Madeleine MacMahon (Abbie), who bring this “bold, brilliant and slightly bonkers”(Reviews Hub) show to life at Hull Truck 23 - 25 July.
Hello both, firstly, can you tell us a little bit about the characters you play in the show?
Madi: I play Abbie in Sh*t Life Crisis. Abbie is upbeat, fun, likeable - but she's also honest, almost aggressively so. She's the one that tells you the truth when sometimes you don't want to hear it, or you're not ready to. Under the surface of it I think she's probably quite shy, and has had to learn to be braver to get what she wants out of life - which often happens when people have had a near-death experience, which is what we think she's had when we meet her in the play.
Madi: I play Abbie in Sh*t Life Crisis. Abbie is upbeat, fun, likeable - but she's also honest, almost aggressively so. She's the one that tells you the truth when sometimes you don't want to hear it, or you're not ready to. Under the surface of it I think she's probably quite shy, and has had to learn to be braver to get what she wants out of life - which often happens when people have had a near-death experience, which is what we think she's had when we meet her in the play.
Flo: I play Grace, who has recently received some life-changing news and is going through a big old identity crisis. Grace is confident, self-assured and motivated, but when we meet her in the play, a lot of those qualities are stripped away and she is struggling to find herself.
This isn't your first time doing the show - is there anything you didn't get to try last time that you're excited to bring to this run?
Madi: A lot of my career has been new writing, and it's lovely because you get to shape things in the room - that was very much the case on this project. But when that happens, lots of rewrites are happening while you're trying to learn it at the same time. So what I'm really excited about with revisiting it is not rewriting in the room - just grounding, bedding in. Revisiting something feels like coming home in a weird, warm, cuddly kind of way. I get to re-approach the material from less of a place of anxiety, and I'm looking forward to making Abbie feel a bit more grounded - because I think she is. She's been through a lot.
Madi: A lot of my career has been new writing, and it's lovely because you get to shape things in the room - that was very much the case on this project. But when that happens, lots of rewrites are happening while you're trying to learn it at the same time. So what I'm really excited about with revisiting it is not rewriting in the room - just grounding, bedding in. Revisiting something feels like coming home in a weird, warm, cuddly kind of way. I get to re-approach the material from less of a place of anxiety, and I'm looking forward to making Abbie feel a bit more grounded - because I think she is. She's been through a lot.
Flo: I'd love to get to know Grace a bit better this time around! I think the last time we worked on this show we really found the magic in Abbie and Grace's relationship. It's a play about going through the unimaginable yes, but it's also a play about friendship, who we feel safe with in uncertain times, and how we continue to live! All of that is so important, so I'm excited to build on those themes whilst finding a deeper connection with Grace, and who she is at her core.
Madi, you've played some funny, warm, loveable characters throughout your career - what's been the most joyous part of this whole experience for you? Any belly laugh moments?
Madi: The lovely thing has been working with Flo. We met nearly ten years ago on a production of Into the Woods - she was playing Little Red and I was playing Jack's mum - and over the years we kept popping up in each other's lives. I saw Flo playing Nina Simone, she came to see me in a play, and we just stayed in touch and got to know each other better as we got older. So when the company were looking for someone, I was like - oh my God, Flo would be amazing. She's so good at holding the space and energy of a show - she doesn't leave the stage, which is a huge ask of an actor (I pop on and off!). When I knew it was her, I knew we were going to have so much fun in the room. And we did - lots and lots of laughs in the rehearsal room, but outside of it too, staying in the same digs together in Hull, talking about our own lives and trying to work out how to take back control of them. Although maybe I'm projecting - maybe that was just me!
Madi: The lovely thing has been working with Flo. We met nearly ten years ago on a production of Into the Woods - she was playing Little Red and I was playing Jack's mum - and over the years we kept popping up in each other's lives. I saw Flo playing Nina Simone, she came to see me in a play, and we just stayed in touch and got to know each other better as we got older. So when the company were looking for someone, I was like - oh my God, Flo would be amazing. She's so good at holding the space and energy of a show - she doesn't leave the stage, which is a huge ask of an actor (I pop on and off!). When I knew it was her, I knew we were going to have so much fun in the room. And we did - lots and lots of laughs in the rehearsal room, but outside of it too, staying in the same digs together in Hull, talking about our own lives and trying to work out how to take back control of them. Although maybe I'm projecting - maybe that was just me!
Flo, you've toured the country playing Nina Simone - a woman who poured everything into every performance. What have you brought from that experience into playing Grace?
Flo: Playing Nina Simone is such a huge undertaking because it's a one-person show. I learned so much about storytelling and building a relationship with your audience on that show, which helps perfectly for Sh*t Life Crisis - Grace spends most of the play talking to the audience.
Flo: Playing Nina Simone is such a huge undertaking because it's a one-person show. I learned so much about storytelling and building a relationship with your audience on that show, which helps perfectly for Sh*t Life Crisis - Grace spends most of the play talking to the audience.
And finally, "Love is a verb" is one of the most important lines in this show. What does this phrase mean to you both?
Madi: This came up in rehearsals - I was listening to a lot of Esther Perel podcasts at the time, and she talks about this concept: love is a verb. It was something I hadn't thought about before. I'd always thought about love as a feeling, an emotion you have about somebody else. But love is a verb - it's something you do. It's something you show to somebody. It's in turning up for somebody, cooking them a meal, remembering something that's important to them. And it's what Abbie does - she shows up. It's what Grace goes on to love about her: she just showed up, unapologetically, and went "I'm here. If you need me, I'm here." I think in British culture particularly we're afraid to do that - we don't want to take up room or overstep the line. But we should all feel more empowered to step into people's space a little bit, particularly when people are grieving and don't have the capacity to say what they need. Don't be afraid to be in the way a little bit. It's something I've really tried to learn from Abbie, and it's been a beautiful part of the process.
Madi: This came up in rehearsals - I was listening to a lot of Esther Perel podcasts at the time, and she talks about this concept: love is a verb. It was something I hadn't thought about before. I'd always thought about love as a feeling, an emotion you have about somebody else. But love is a verb - it's something you do. It's something you show to somebody. It's in turning up for somebody, cooking them a meal, remembering something that's important to them. And it's what Abbie does - she shows up. It's what Grace goes on to love about her: she just showed up, unapologetically, and went "I'm here. If you need me, I'm here." I think in British culture particularly we're afraid to do that - we don't want to take up room or overstep the line. But we should all feel more empowered to step into people's space a little bit, particularly when people are grieving and don't have the capacity to say what they need. Don't be afraid to be in the way a little bit. It's something I've really tried to learn from Abbie, and it's been a beautiful part of the process.
Flo: Love is a verb means to me pretty much what Abbie says in the play. Love is something you do - it's an action and a choice! I think sometimes we feel too shy or self-conscious to show love to the people closest to us, but it's such a beautiful and honest thing. I think Abbie and Grace's love is so special because they didn't expect it from each other - it just showed up, and they chose to keep it going.
Sh*t Life Crisis runs at Hull Truck from Thursday 23rd until Saturday 25th July 2026. For tickets and more information visit https://www.hulltruck.co.uk/whats-on/drama/shstart-life-crisis/
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