Review: Man's Best Friend (Tron Theatre)

Douglas Maxwell’s dog-walker dramedy delights

This was an unfortunate time to open a production titled "Man’s Best Friend." For those unaware, popstar Sabrina Carpenter caused internet uproar earlier this month with the cover for her new album Man’s Best Friend, which makes it a little hard to fight for attention for your heartwarming solo show. This is a shame, because Douglas Maxwell's play, starring Jordan Young, is just as capable of bringing people together as internet drama is of tearing them apart.

Young plays Ronnie, a Glaswegian who, ever since the COVID-19 lockdowns, has volunteered to walk his neighbour's dogs. But he doesn’t consider himself much of a dog person, or a Glaswegian for that matter. He would rather tell us about his troublesome pooches, his rival walkers, and his makeshift lead harness (known as the “central belt”) than himself, or how he got into this dog-walking malarkey. Young seems made for this role. He speaks at a million miles per hour but never misses a syllable or a punchline. As we start to peel back the layers and touch on sensitive topics, Young plays up Ronnie’s discomfort and shows just how long he has ignored his own feelings and circumstances.

Art with themes of masculinity and loneliness can sometimes suffer from hindsight. Writers who have taken the time to deconstruct and examine those ideas aren’t always equipped to go back and write a character who hasn’t. That is not the case with Douglas Maxwell and Man’s Best Friend. As we learn, Ronnie has a history of addiction, and although he is in recovery, he is still in the eye of the storm when it comes to grief and loneliness. It is that level of nuance in the writing and the performance that makes Man’s Best Friend special.

This is an instance of an actor, writer, and director working in perfect harmony. This play was initially performed at A Play, A Pie, and a Pint, and although I did not have the chance to see it then, it is easy to see how it has flourished at the Tron. The grand, multi-purpose set (designed by Becky Minto) has the air of a new public space, like a school or a park as yet unspoiled by graffiti and dog urine. In my last review at the Tron (A View from the Bridge), I wrote that it was hard to get a sense of Jemima Levick’s vision. With Man’s Best Friend, her vision is on full display, tail wagging, for all to see. My only fear is that I may have done the Fringe a disservice because I have seen the best one-man show of the year in June. Five stars.

Whispers from the Crowd: "Honestly, it was beautiful. For me, it was very close to home." "He did incredibly. I loved the set too, the Tron is always good with that."

Man's Best Friend will play at the Tron Theatre until the 12th of July, and will tour from the 3rd to the 27th of September

Phot Credit: Mihaela Bodlovic