Man’s Best Friend Brings a One-Man Dog Pack to Lemon Tree
An intimate solo piece on care, companionship and connection is heading to Aberdeen
Man’s Best Friend lands at the Lemon Tree on 16 and 17 September. Written by Douglas Maxwell, directed by Jemima Levick and performed by Jordan Young, it is a one-man show about care, companionship and the habits that keep you steady. The play invites you to picture a chorus of dogs and the people who orbit them while one actor holds the room.
It is low-key, unfussy theatre that favours precision over spectacle. What matters is attention, timing and imagination, and the way a simple task can grow into something larger without losing its heart.
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A one-man show built on craft
Young, well known from River City and Scot Squad, moves between voices and moods with ease. There are no live dogs and no tricks. The humour sits beside moments of stillness, and the shift feels earned.
Writer Douglas Maxwell loves the format: ‘A one person show is an intimate thing. But it can create a powerful theatrical connection between a skilled storyteller and an audience, built in empathy, imagination and shared experience… And dogs. It’s also about dogs.’ That plainness matches what ends up on stage, where empathy does the heavy lifting.
From small-scale roots to a bigger stage
The piece began at Òran Mór’s A Play, A Pie and a Pint, then grew into a longer Tron Theatre staging. That path suggests a script shaped in front of audiences, expanded without losing its pulse.
It also marks almost 25 years since Maxwell’s first Tron premiere, Our Bad Magnet, a neat loop that adds a layer of context rather than nostalgia.
Trusting the audience
Lemon Tree crowds often back work that trusts the audience. Man’s Best Friend sits in that space, focusing on care, routine and the strange comfort of being useful to someone else. Jemima Levick’s take explains its reach: ‘Set in Glasgow, Man’s Best Friend has a heart that speaks to dog lovers, to people living with loneliness and loss, and to anyone that needs to settle into where they belong.’ It travels because it pays attention to people first.
It is a low-key piece that rewards attention and leaves room to think on the walk home. The production tours Scotland through September, with the Aberdeen dates, 16-17 September, towards the end of the run. Tickets are available now from Aberdeen Performing Arts.
