Slightly embarrassed after telling the ticket scanner “I stuck a flare up my arse”, I sat rather comfortably before the show began. The one man show with a firecracking title follows Billy and his friend Adam through getting in with a crowd of football lads. They lead a new life of chasing pints, matches, and the fights that follow them. But the high doesn’t last forever as being known as “bumflare guy” started prompting a wave of reevaluation about the kind of guy Billy wants to be.
It’s obvious actor Alex Hill wrote the show, performing his words with impenetrable precision, while maintaining an easy nonchalance. A true engager, there is not one moment when the performer isn’t wholeheartedly present. The acting and staging charge the atmosphere electric. The laughs are hearty as Hill has mastered command of using his entire being to tell a joke. The tech used lighting and sound to make the show as seamless as possible.
While the show’s comedic repertoire reflects the bold title, Billy’s self-reflection surges the show into being a part of a bigger discussion. A young boy discovers how his desire for belonging has led him down a path that would make him a smaller man than he ever thought he would be. The trappings of hyper-masculinity and cheap thrills cloud the way to living with true and honest fulfilment.
My only wish is a bit more time with Billy, to grow and solidify the care for the character the audience already begins to feel. For when the time for change comes, it’s a revelation we get to truly feel and want for the lad jumping about the stage.
There was plenty to feel, see and love about this original work. Stories that combine the green beauty and formative pain of fragile youth are infinitely important. To show a young man going against the grain to find a better way is what will free the generations of tomorrow from being a product the times far before them. To instead, be a product of revolution, to redesign what it means to be one of the lads. To take a chance on love, not just lager.
Why I Stuck A Flare Up My Arse for England
22:20 @ theSpace at Niddry Street – Studio
Aug 6-12, 14-22
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/why-i-stuck-a-flare-up-my-arse-for-england
