Over one ordinary day, a man moves through calls about work, money, family and friends while quietly falling apart. A one-man musical about men’s mental health, emotional suppression, and the moments that change everything.
Written and performed by Chris Duke. Directed by Lisa Duke.
Over the course of a single ordinary day, a man moves through calls about work, money, parenting, friendship and family. He is polite. Functional. Reassuring. He sounds fine.
The audience watches the ground shift beneath him in real time. A collapse that barely looks like one. Not a lecture. Not a misery parade. Honest, recognisable, and funny in places — because real life does not arrive in one emotional register.
It does not offer resolution.
It offers recognition.
Written following an ADHD diagnosis at 39, which directly unlocked the ability to translate music from imagination to piano for the first time. Personal in its origin. Urgent in its purpose.
Sometimes the best way to understand a show is to meet the person making it. This is Chris talking about 1 Missed Call — where it came from, and why it had to be made.
Honest. Personal. It does not come from a comfortable distance from its subject. It comes from inside it.
Edinburgh Fringe is the most important launching pad in British theatre. No investors. No Arts Council. A personal, mission-driven project built from the ground up.
49 seats. 6 nights. Every pound raised goes directly into making that happen. Nothing more, nothing less.
No investors. No Arts Council. Just the show, the audience, and people like you making it possible.
Make a DonationWe need 5,000 calls answered to fund our Edinburgh Fringe run. For just £1, you can answer a call and instantly add your name to the live feed.
Leave a message of hope, show your support, or answer on behalf of someone who matters to you. One pound. One name. One call answered.
Answer a call for £1A small team. A personal show. No distance between the material and the people making it.
Scottish writer, broadcaster and performer. Musical Director with Rock Choir, with a background in Applied Music from the University of Strathclyde and extensive experience in theatre as both performer and Musical Director.
Diagnosed with ADHD at 39, Chris found that medication finally unlocked the ability to translate music from his head to the piano. That breakthrough directly created this show. It comes from inside the subject, not from a safe distance.
BA (Hons) English and Drama, trained at The Space Dundee. Lisa returns to theatre with absolute clarity about the kind of work she wants to make — work that matters, earns its place, and treats its audience as intelligent adults.
Years spent supporting a loved one through mental ill health sharpen her understanding of what this subject demands: precision, emotional honesty, and the courage to resist easy answers.
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No investors. No grants. Just a show that needs to exist, and people willing to help get it there.