Scots service dog 'wows' judges securing role in Glasgow comedy festival play after nationwide audition

A service dog has “wowed” judges at auditions to land the role of top dog in a play set to run during Glasgow’s International Comedy Festival.

Roxy will take centre stage in Walking Shadows, which will run at Websters Theatre in March during Glasgow’s International Comedy Festival.

Writer and director Michael Lewis described the play as a three act farce about amateur theatre involving 12 actors and a dog.

Dozens of dog owners brought their precious pets to perform their best tricks for Mr Lewis, as well as a slate of judges, in hopes of landing the coveted role.

The play titled, Walking Shadows, will run at Glasgow's international comedy festival which is set to take place in March. — The play titled, Walking Shadows, will run at Glasgow’s international comedy festival which is set to take place in March. STV News

Mr Lewis said: “We’ve had quite the turn out, we’re really surprised.”

“We put the word out there and so many dog owners have come along, I’ve even had dogs sending their resume to show me how talented they are.”

Writer and director, Michael Lewis, said they were looking for a pooch with the 'wow factor' to star in the show. — Writer and director, Michael Lewis, said they were looking for a pooch with the ‘wow factor’ to star in the show. STV News

The writer and director told STV News they were looking for a pup with the “wow factor”.

He added: “There’s a number of different qualities, some star quality.

“But also some cuteness, that’s going to go a long way and a wee bit of demeanour as well as being able to go on stage, and perform tricks with our actors.”

Each dog was tasked with acting in a scene from act three with two of the actors from the show. The pups were also tasked with performing tricks for the crowd and competition.

Each dog was tasked with acting in a scene from act three with two of the already cast actors from the show. STV News

The contest was tight with judges struggling to choose a winner and ultimately decided to give Daphne, Duke and Comet the joint runner up position.

Service dog Roxy was then announced as the winner.

Roxy’s owner, Lindsey McMinimee, spoke with STV before the audition saying she thought it would be something “fun” to bring her dog along to.

Roxy came out as top dog during the audition process. STV News

“She’s so amazing, she has hundreds of tricks. She actually acts as a service dog for me, because it’s important to have a good bond I do a lot of training with her,” Ms McMinimee said.

Speaking after the win, Ms McMinimee said she was “so delighted” for Roxy adding that she did “so well”.

“I’m super proud, she’s such a good dog, she was just like ‘I need to go out there, execute my trick perfectly and that’s me finished’,” she said.