Edinburgh Fringe 2025
Why I Stuck a Flare Up My Arse For England
RoxyDog Productions
Genre: Comedy, One Person Show, Storytelling, Theatre
Venue: Underbelly
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
An hour of high-octane entertainment that grapples with the darker side of football fanaticism: tribalism, machismo culture, and male loneliness.
Review
Picture it – the 2020 (or more accurately, 2021) Euros final. England versus Italy. The crowds are going wild, and this might finally be the chance for England to recover from years of accumulated football trauma. And there’s one man who might be able to help with that – meet Billy Kinley, and he’s got just the thing for the baying crowds. As you might have guessed from the title of the show, he’s going to stick a flare up his arse for England.
Why? Well, on the surface, the answer might seem simple. Sixteen pints of lager, three grams of coke, and dunno. Just thought it might be fun. But the story of course goes much deeper, back to childhood football matches supporting AFC Wimbledon, breakfasts with best mate Adam, and a budding relationship with girlfriend Daisy, and spreads almost insidiously to back-alley fights, drunken brawls, and the darker side of football culture. Back for a third and final Fringe, writer Alex Hill features as Billy himself, and takes a look at toxic masculinity, tribalism and belonging, all through the guise of a high-octane thrill ride of storytelling – almost like watching a match in itself.
Hill’s piece, affectionately nicknamed the Bum Flare Play, tackles the male loneliness epidemic through a look at English football culture, or perhaps more accurately, hooliganism. Based on an actual incident (well, the flare at least), the play considers football and the machismo culture that surrounds it, a subject far less trod on the boards, and Hill’s dramatics leaves him sprinting around the stage and necking two full pints in the space of a few moments – impressive even in itself. The entire hour whizzed by whilst Hill seamlessly assumed different roles with a sustained energy, and he delivered both soaring highs and emotional gut punches throughout.
With only a few shows left, it’s well worth checking out this emotional thrill ride of a play, regardless of whether you’re a die-hard football fan or barely know the rules of the game. Hill delivers a well-crafted and emotional hour of entertainment that’s an absolute thrill to watch from start to finish.
