Thursday August 14th 2025
Cornermen
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Katie Gregory
A young fighter’s ego is like fire: you have to spark it just enough to explode in the ring, but not so much that it burns down everything outside it. That’s where the Cornermen come in. Their job is to cultivate the fire, manage the ego – to build him up just enough to win, and break him down just enough to stay controllable. The goal isn’t just to make him a star fighter, but to make sure he’s theirs.
At the center of Cornermen is Sid Sparks, a boxer who was meant to be a journeyman – someone who fights often, loses often, and makes money for the people around him. But Sid isn’t a loser, not in the slightest – and that is preciesely the problem.
His natural talent and potential turn what should have been a manageable career into something dangerous. He might actually make it – and that possibility pulls everyone around him into a version of life they’d stopped dreaming about. As the stakes grow with Sid’s success, and before long, everyone is risking more than they ever meant to. Things are on the line that were never supposed to be.
The show doesn’t offer many twists or try to avoid common tropes. In fact, its predictability makes it more painful. You feel it early on: that this can’t possibly end well. And yet, the audience is immersed and invited into the dream. And we go right in, because Liam Scobie as Sid is so compelling. Sid charms you, with his grin, his childlike naivete, the certain cockiness that only comes with youth.
The men in Sid’s corner – Mickey, Drew, Joey – wouldn’t call themselves dreamers, not anymore. They’re older, hardened by disappointment, and shaped by the cynicism after only years of losing. But Sid ignites something in them. They have an almost paternalistic love for him, but more than that – he offers them a way back to the dreams they thought they’d long abandoned.
The contrast between rising ambition and hardened experience, hope and disappointment – between someone tasting victory for the first time and those who’ve spent a lifetime chasing it, plays out vividly before the audience.
While each actor is exceptional individually, it’s their chemistry that truly sells the story. Mickey (Daniel Doherty) commands the room with ambition and a razor-sharp wit. Drew (Ruairi Francis McCormack) lingers in the background as the quiet observer, until a sudden burst of emotion snaps him into focus. And Joey (Aaron Hogg), with his boundless energy, and magnetic presence, delivers some of the show’s most unforgettable moments.
The pacing is relentless, almost too fast at times, but it’s a deliberate choice that heightens the intensity of the performance and mirrors the unforgiving speed of the boxing world. Sid feels it too, and as he begins to question whether he can keep going, the machine built around him refuses to slow down.
Each coach grapples with Sid’s situation in his own way. Caught between compassion and apathy, they wrestle with the same question: is it worth it? Is Sid a just sacrifice for everything they’re chasing? Each must confront how much they’re willing to lose in the pursuit of glory – and whether they’ll even recognize themselves if they ever get there.
The cornermen were never going to be the antagonists, and as we head towards the end, we are confronted with what we already know – there are no winners. Each of our cornermen are at a different stage of losing, bargaining and coping.
The narration from each coach helps thread the story together and lends a reflective, often haunting tone.
As they told us at the beginning of the play, boxing is cyclical. There is always a rise, always a fall – how much you can get out of it is up to you. When we arrive at the inevitable fall: of our fighter, of Sid, of the dream – the audience aren’t surprised. But that doesn’t make it hurt any less. Our actors made us care every step of the way, and lean into the hope that lives inside all of us. So while Cornermen might be entirely predictable, it is utterly unmissable.
£11 full price – theSpace on the Mile – Space 3
