REVIEW: Leah MacRae’s Best Bits – Rutherglen Town Hall
Leah MacRae is a well-known and well-loved face in Scottish acting circles, featuring in Baby Reindeer, River City, the about to be released Night Sleeper and most famously in Gary Tank Commander. MacRae has enviable comic timing and an even more enviable singing voice, both of which are on show in her latest stage show Leah MacRae’s Best Bits.
It’s been several years since the almost ubiquitous MacRae has been seen on stage, with crowds begging for more after her previous outings My Big Fat Fabulous Diary and Leah MacRae Weighs In. In Best Bits we find out why it’s been so long.
While on the surface this seems to be more of the usual comedy mayhem we are used to, the thread that binds the best bits together is more weighty. MacRae bears her soul after a break up that took her to the brink and back. After therapy, mental and physical she is spreading a good-natured message of self love and acceptance. In the least preachy way possible she explains the difference between trauma and anxiety and urges us all to acknowledge and seek help where we need it. She shines a light on the Scottish tendency to brush all of this under the carpet and proclaims from the rooftops and at the top of her lungs that getting it all out in the open is the best therapy. All of this in an environment she declares her safe space – an audience of her fans.
Don’t be misled that this is a big old self-help session, rather it’s the usual bawdy comedy and belting tunes. She delivers Taylor The Latte Boy (made famous by Kristin Chenoweth) and Fabulous Baby from Sister Act, as well as some roof-raising ballads and pop tunes. Stand out among the songs is a hysterical one on periods, following an equally hysterical scene on men buying period products in the supermarket. She also displays her usual self-deprecating humour especially in the skit about flying.
Despite visible nerves and technical issues that she deals with, with aplomb, MacRae is very much at home here. She is a force of nature and it’s brilliant to see that she’s back where she belongs.
