Tron Theatre, Glasgow
Five stars
It’s a dog’s life for Ronnie, the man at the centre of Douglas Maxwell’s beautifully realised new play, brought to life in a heart wrenching solo turn by Jordan Young. In charge of five of his neighbours’ pet hounds, Ronnie’s entire life is kept on a pretty short leash as he attempts to navigate the assorted excitable personalities of his furry brood. Yet, for all he never quite bonds with his charges, and however hazardous their daily walks might be, their presence fills a vacuum in Ronnie’s own life that since the Covid induced lockdown has left him bereft. When a particularly chaotic morning finds one of the dogs raking up something unexpected in the woods, it is a necessary shock to the system.
There is huge heart at play in Maxwell’s writing, which looks at the fallout of everyday tragedy against a much larger backdrop to bring it emotionally alive in an immaculately structured work full of big ideas about humanity, loss and survival. This is a gift for Young in Jemima Levick’s exquisitely paced production, as he paces the wooden spiral of Becky Minto’s set, at first struggling with the overarching ridiculousness of trying to wrangle five dogs, then finding accidental salvation through an incident out of his control.
With Young on stage alone throughout the play’s eighty minutes, there is something deeply profound in Maxwell’s deceptively simple set up that taps into a basic humanity with empathy and soul.
Patricia Panther’s sound design is as nuanced as the subtle shades of Grant Anderson’s lighting that complement the action with an at times sepulchral glow. A word too about the animated illustrations by Ross Collins, who brings the entire canine pack to life in an unmissable study of one man’s journey from holding on for dear life to finally finding the strength to let go.
The Herald, June 26th 2025
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