A miniature white coffin filled with blonde locks is brought to the stage and signals the start of Truly, Madly Baldly – the story of writer and lead performer Sam Macgregor’s experiences with alopecia.
We were gathered upstairs at Laurels Theatre for the show, which is framed as a humanist memorial for Sam’s gone but not forgotten hair, offering the Newcastle-born performer the opportunity to share a series of anecdotes and experiences with the assembled mourners – aka the audience.
The procession of eulogies take us on Sam’s journey, from his initial consultation with an unhelpful GP and rapid trip to the barbers (where he at least found out his skull was a good shape) to wider experiences in love and life as he comes to terms with his new and very smooth normal.
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He is supported on stage by the BAFTA-nominated and conspicuously hirsute actor Jack Robertson, who plays a wide range of characters during the show from over-friendly and tactile strangers to excruciating agents and doomed Tinder dates.
Truly Madly Baldly started life as an Edinburgh show last summer, and it works well as an hour-long performance.
The production looks, sounds and feels very much at home on the Laurels stage. Great to see the Whitley Bay venue’s lofty space packed with a very appreciative crowd.
The show is genuine and heartfelt throughout, which is no surprise as most of the stories are either heavily or lightly based on real events and experiences.
The two actors riff off each other well and Robertson is an excellent comic foil to Macgregor’s increasingly exasperated version of himself.
Thankfully, by the show’s end Sam is largely at peace with his lot and optimistic for what the future brings. And so he should be, Truly Madly Baldly is an easy show to recommend and is well worth heading along to Laurels for.
Truly, Madly, Baldly is at Laurels Theatre, Whitley Bay until May 4. For tickets, visit the website.
You can read Sam Wonfor’s interview with Sam Macgregor here.
