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A hilarious celebration of laddish football revelry that exposes the human tragedy behind an infamous pratfall.Summary
Rating
Excellent
The atmosphere was electric as we entered the Large Theatre at Southwark Playhouse Borough for Alex Hill’s Why I Stuck A Flare Up My Arse For England, a one man show about an intrepid England fan whose drunken antics make him a national sensation. In a bombastic opening, Hill struts onto stage, proclaiming the glory of free expression that is football revelry and singing ‘Vindaloo’ by Fat Les. He perfectly evokes the match day fever that becomes a national event when England play. This sets the scene for a riotous story about laddish antics that go too far.
The title alludes to an actual event that took place before the Euro 2020 final of England vs Italy. Hill has created a hilarious original show that uses this infamous episode as a jumping off point to tell a surprisingly poignant story about football, friendship and how life can spiral out of control.
The show begins with an ode to football and male friendship that illuminates how the beautiful game can bring people together and forge lasting bonds. In a few quick, funny scenes we meet Billy, whose youthful energy and everyman persona we connect with. We are smoothly introduced to his life and his love of football, which is the foundation of his friendship with his best mate Adam.
Hill’s charisma is captivating. Whether he is delivering laddish comedy or a sombre monologue about Billy’s friendship with Adam, he brings real humanity to his performance. Hill is also great at shifting between multiple characters in a scene, giving them all recognisable identities.
The show uses minimal staging – only a few props and a backdrop of England flags, lighting and sound effects – to move quickly through many scenes and locations, whilst maintaining the cohesion of the story.
Hill shifts seamlessly from comedy to drama as Billy’s story darkens. He seeks to impress a group of football hooligans. His friendship with Adam suffers. Laddish pratfalls give way to heavy drinking, hard drugs and escalating violence. The familiar decline plot structure is used well to show how Billy’s enthusiasm for football and his desire to be accepted by his male peers alienates him from Adam.
The crucial moment of Billy sticking a flare up his arse is dramatised twice. Firstly, as comedic in the energetic opening, but then as sad when revisited. It is a testament to Hill’s writing and performance that he turns what was once funny into a moment of pathos, revealing that Billy has become a pitiable attention seeker, wanting the approval of his dubious male peers.
The final moments of the show swerve towards darkness, as tragedy strikes but Billy is lost in a world of excess. Hill delivers this tonal shift deftly, showing the real life consequences of being caught up in childish antics and neglecting a cherished friendship. Instead of delivering a final joke, the show is all the stronger for ending on a poignant note.
I didn’t know what to expect from a show called Why I Stuck A Flare Up My Arse For England (beyond the obvious) but I didn’t expect the ending to be powerfully melancholy. Packing an emotional punch into a comedic play shows Hill’s talent as a writer and performer. It also shows that behind the laddish stunt there is a real person, and bringing this humanity to the front made this show both funny and moving.
Written and performed by: Alex Hill
Directed by: Sean Turner
Design by: Joel Clements
Lighting design by: Matt Cater
Sound design by: Sam Baxter
Produced by: Joshua Beaumont and Matthew Emeny for Roxy Dog
Why I Stuck A Flare Up My Arse For England plays at Southwark Playhouse until 4 May. Further information and bookings can be found here.
