Why I Stuck a Flare Up My Arse for England - Southwark/Tour

I think Penny Keith did this at the Haymarket in the mid-80s didn't she?

I've just been reading out the title of the play to my work colleagues when I saw the e mail.
I'd pay to go if they reinact it on stage.

Is that for real?
Brilliant if it was

I came here for the comments and wasn't disappointed!

I saw this at the Old Red Lion and it's actually rather good.

Qué será, será
Whatever will be, will be
We're going to A&E

Once in a while you go along to the theatre of a midweek afternoon with little to no expectations of a show and come away totally blown away; today was one of those beautiful occasions.

Why I Stuck a Flare Up My Arse For England has arguably the loudest title of any play I’ve ever seen. The subject matter - the story of what led a drunken, coked-up football hooligan to put a pyrotechnic between his bum cheeks - is gimmicky on the surface but Alex Hill’s writing and performance is anything but.

This is what you get when you take (the equally as brilliant) Dear England, strip away funding from the National Theatre, ditch Joseph Fiennes and lose the critics falling over themselves to laud praise on the latest state-of-the-nation piece.

Hill plays Billy. OK, the protagonist’s name has been altered, as has I am sure a lot of the backstory (here, Billy is a Wimbledon fan whereas I recall the real life bum flare man supported Chelsea). Billy is bold, brash, loud… everything you might expect. But the journey Hill takes us on is incredibly nuanced in its storytelling and subtly portrayed. He finds the light and dark in Billy’s life with ease.

This is such a relatable story for those of us who spent decades following a lower league football team up and down the country. It highlights how, when you lack meaning and access to more rounded interests beyond football, it is so easy to go all in and become consumed by a world of violence, cocaine but, most of all, belonging.

This play is heartfelt and, like Dear England, its core themes will appeal to even those with a fleeting interest in the beautiful game. The staging is simple but effective and Sam Baxter’s sound design is up there with any West End play I’ve seen.

Hill told the audience after the bows that it is set for another run at Edinburgh Fringe this summer. I can’t help but think this play is wholly deserving of a wider audience and, with the Euros just weeks away, I genuinely do think London’s more central theatres should be taking a punt on it. Either way, I hope it has a future life in some form as I’d welcome the chance to see it again.

Five stars.

Ahh been trying to find out where else it's going regionally as I'd love to see anything with such strong praise and it sounds like something up my street. Do you know if it's going anywhere else? I cannot find any info!

Edit: Have found it will be playing in Taunton and Birmingham in November, for anyone interested. Will continue the search!