Arabella Weir brings first UK tour to Fife

She brings the show to the Byre Theatre in St Andrews on March 29 as part of her first ever UK tour. And she’s looking forward to getting on the road.

She told the Press: “I’m pretty excited, I know I’m going to, I can say this because you’re in Scotland, but I know I’m going to have the best time in Scotland.

“A, because I love Scotland, but also because the show is about my Scottish mother, or rather the first half is, so I’m very aware that when I’m doing it, like when I was at the Edinburgh Festival, Scottish people particularly get the references and things.

“It’s a unique kind of Scottish parenting.”

The comedy star and author, has strong links to the Kingdom and said it was important to her to include a Fife date.

“My dad’s from Dunfermline, and you know, I do the Kirkcaldy Festival of Ideas,” she said.

“So it was very important to have a date in Fife. I was waiting to get a date in Dunfermline, but the venues are either too small or too big.”

With her show being billed as “the mother of all confessional shows”, for anyone who’s had a mother, been a mother, or even known a mother, what can people expect from it?

“In the first half they can expect some alarming and funny, hair-raising and shocking stories about me and my relationship with my mum and my childhood.

“Then in the second half they will hear all about me as a mum. So it’s a game of two mums if you like.”

Arabella’s honest show explores all the pain, pitfalls, embarrassment and unintentional hilarity of motherhood.

And her UK tour follows a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe last summer.

She said: “I had to put on three extra shows, so that’s a pretty good response.

“People seemed to really enjoy it.

“I love Edinburgh, and I love being there and I’d never done an Edinburgh show before so it felt fantastic.”

So why now, at the age of 62, has Arabella decided to go on tour?

“My kids are away at university and I’m single and it just seemed the right time,” she explains.

“Before, my kids were at home and I’m a single parent, so I wouldn’t have left them.

“I suppose also I’ve got the confidence now.

“It’s a combination of things, and you might think I’m a little bit old for this, but the time felt right and I just thought I’m going to do this.

“I’m really looking forward to it, because it’s not every night. If it was 30 dates every night then I think I’d be like ‘oh my God’, but I think the fact I’ve got some gaps in between will mean that it’s easier to do and fun, and it doesn’t turn into a grind.”

Best known for her television performances, does she have a preference between the stage and the screen?

“I really enjoy doing both. I have to say it’s much easier doing television because you can have another go and also you have other people to be with.

“There’s something very alarming about being on stage on your own, but on the other hand when it’s just you, it’s incredibly exciting when people like it.

“When you’re on your own, you’re on your own and that is quite tricky, but it can be very exciting too.”

“It’s probably harder work than television I would say, but it’s also more immediately rewarding.”

* Does My Mum Loom Big in This? is at the Byre Theatre, St Andrews on March 29.