The Ushers

Neil Leiper, Vicky Binns and Craig Porter in The Ushers. Photo Roddy Hand

Springtime, 1996. Jed's fled the bright lights of Paisley for a contract in Sheffield building roofs. He's got his own flat, his girlfriend's six foot one, he's twenty years old and life is looking up. But the night before his sister's wedding, Jed's oldest pal Skarloey pays an unexpected visit. Read more …

Why's he made the trip? Especially when they're due on the seven thirty-eight back to Glasgow in the morning. Two more visitors drop by. Chubby's convinced Bruno's going to beat Mike Tyson. Zoe's grandma lies dying in a hospice. There are high hopes for the future and yearnings for the past. Something is coming to an end. But will friendship conquer all?

Stuart Davids said, ‘When I first read The Ushers I was blown away by Simon’s ability to make the characters come flying off the page - I wanted to realise them and make them flesh and blood. I was immediately struck by his meticulous attention to detail and his intelligently intricate use of language. Theatre is sadly lacking great new comedies that entertain and provide the audience with an engaging and intelligent night out.’

Simon Crowther said, ‘The Ushers, is a light–hearted play about ordinary things, friendship and its unwanted familiarity, leaving home, the politics of fancying your mate’s sister. I knew however that Stuart could bring out the darker strains that ran underneath it all, the pathos and the doom.’

The critical consensus

An embarrassingly weak play filled with characters you want to continuously slap.

Michael Cox, Onstage Scotland, 19/01/2011

Crowther succeeds in creating a group of characters whose future stories might be worth telling, as they pick their way through the journey from the mean streets of Paisley to a modern model of masculinity.

(*) (*) Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman, 21/01/2011

It’s the kind of thing which is still just about acceptable on TV – the safe, middling sit-com with an almost ritualistic adherence to time-worn gags and plot-lines.

(*) (*) (*) Colin Chaloner, Theatre in Scotland, 21/02/2011