“I was enthralled by every minute of 1 Missed Call.”Broadway Baby
“Officially fabulous musical theatre numbers.”The Real Chrisparkle
“A thoughtful and perceptive production.”Theatre in Edinburgh
1Missed Call
A new one-man musical
Funny first.
Honest always.
Honest always.
Written and performed by Chris Duke
Directed by Lisa Duke
A man cave. A missed call. A lifetime of saying “I’m fine”.
Chris has built himself the perfect mancave: tools he cannot use, a wrestling belt he did not win and all the evidence required to prove that a “proper man” lives there.
Then his daughter calls. He misses it. She leaves a message.
Instead of listening, Chris imagines the worst, rehearses every conversation and tries to fix everybody except himself. Through original songs, awkward honesty and the comedy of a man trying far too hard to look in control, the room begins to unravel.
So does the version of masculinity he has spent a lifetime performing.
It’s about the distance between fixing someone and actually hearing them.
Bring the show to your venue
The story has not changed. I have.
I wrote the thing I was frightened to say out loud.
For years I knew how to be useful, funny and apparently fine. I was much less certain how to be honest.
1 Missed Call came from my own experience of dark periods, an ADHD diagnosis and the slow realisation that I had spent much of my life performing the version of myself I thought other people needed.
I didn’t want to write a lecture about men. I wanted to put a recognisable bloke in a room, let an audience laugh with him and see what happens when he finally runs out of places to hide.
The man on stage loves his family. He makes people laugh. He is trying. He has simply confused being strong with never letting anyone see the effort.
Chris DukeTwo small words. A whole musical hiding underneath.
“I’m Fine” sits at the heart of the show: the easy answer, the familiar joke and the place where the truth begins to break through.
The songs stay in your head. The question stays with you.
What they said
★★★★
“A thoughtful and perceptive production.”Theatre in Edinburgh
★★★★
“Officially fabulous musical theatre numbers.”The Real Chrisparkle
★★★
“A powerful and relatable treatment of an important subject from a homegrown talent.”Broadway Baby
And from the people in the room
“Every song a banger!”Brian Menzies
“I laughed, I cried.”Laura Munro
“Made me leave with a great big smile!”Julie Wallace
“I would buy the album if available.”Greg Winders
Born at the Edinburgh Fringe. Ready for the next room.
Audiences laughed at the recognisable bits, went quiet when it mattered and stayed afterwards to talk. The debut proved that this deeply personal story belongs to more than one person.
Inside the mancave
One room. One performer. Every version of the man he thinks he is supposed to be.
Could this story belong in your room?
If 1 Missed Call feels right for your theatre, festival, organisation or community, I’d love to talk.
The show is intimate enough to feel personal and theatrical enough to transform a room. It brings together humour, original music and an open-hearted conversation about masculinity without ever becoming a lecture.
Help keep the work moving
Monthly support helps fund the ongoing creation and production of 1 Missed Call.
The first production was only the beginning. There is still work to do: developing the show, rehearsing, recording the music, creating touring materials and getting it into new rooms around the UK and further afield.
Your support also helps keep Chris’s wider independent creative work moving. It can cover rehearsal space, travel, equipment, websites, software, printing and the ordinary production costs behind every performance, recording and new idea.
Choose the level that feels right. Every supporter helps make the next part possible.
£5per month
Keep It Going
- A monthly supporter update from Chris
- Early news about the show and other creative work
- A private early listen to the 1 Missed Call album when it is ready
£10per month
Back the Work
- Everything included in Keep It Going
- A signed 1 Missed Call flyer as a one-off founding gift
- Available to the first 100 founding supporters, while stocks last
£20per month
Help It Travel
- Everything included in Back the Work
- Your name, if you wish, on the supporter page
- Supporter credit in future digital programmes
The signed flyer is a one-off welcome gift for £10 and £20 founding supporters and is available for UK delivery only. Album access will be shared privately before its public release.
Support the work monthlyMonthly support renews until cancelled. It supports Chris Duke’s independent creative work and the continuing development and production of 1 Missed Call. It is not a charitable donation, an investment, or a purchase of ownership or creative control. It does not go directly to Men Matter Scotland; any contribution made to the charity from the show’s profits is handled separately.
Made by two people who know each other very well.
Chris Duke
Writer and performerChris is a Scottish broadcaster, podcaster, choir leader, songwriter, performer and author. Diagnosed with ADHD at 39, he began translating years of internal noise into music—directly leading to his debut original musical.
Lisa Duke
DirectorLisa shaped the production’s movement between comedy, confession, music and stillness, always keeping the human being at the centre of the mancave.
The conversation continues with Men Matter Scotland.
1 Missed Call continues to support the charity’s suicide-prevention and mental-health work with men and their families.