★★★★

“an hour of pure theatre comedy gold”

Just once in a while a piece of writing and a solo performance comes along that leaves you tingling as you leave the theatre. Jodie Comer’s Prima Facie was one. Now, at the opposite end of the scale of experience, comes Alex Hill with his one-man show about football fandom, its heights and its depths.

‘Why I Stuck A Flare up my Ar*e for England’ has been around for three years and, frankly, there is little for a reviewer to say that hasn’t been already said. It premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2023, returned in 2024 and 2025, and for the last year has been touring in the UK and Australia. It’s been playing to sell-out audiences (last night was no exception) and has consistently garnered four and five stars.

So why I hadn’t heard of it (nor had my companion) is a bit of a mystery but here is where the brilliance of writer/performer/producer Alex Hill starts. Football dramas (the Ted Lasso TV series excepting) are not my usual fare. I barely noticed the European championship game when the #bumflare incident went viral and inspired this exposition. The current excitement around FIFA World Cup 2026 leaves me cold. Yet this could scarcely be a better time to see this show. It is both dazzling and devastating in its fantasy exploration of the inner life of fictional football fanatic Billy Kinley. And an eye opener into the poignancy of a simple childhood love of the game gone wrong.

Billy is a character based on a real-life England fan who put a lit flare in his buttocks before the 2021 Euros final. Hill – a 2022 graduate of Arts Educational Schools – has transformed this laughable event into just over an hour of pure theatre comedy gold. His energy is jaw dropping. Downing in quick succession two pints of, apparently, beer; throwing out his arms shouting ‘It’s match time’; bounding about the simple stage engaged in virtual fighting; the pace leaves you gasping. And then, as his downward spiral into drink, drugs, tribal battles, racism and fatal relationships spins him into excess, you suddenly see his world explode and Hill delivers an extraordinary transition towards a tear-jerking, sombre finale.

There is genius in here too, with the matching of football culture against classic arts ‘culture’. In a hilarious episode, Billy finds himself manoeuvred into taking his girlfriend to what he calls a ‘Martini’ performance of Les Misérables, just when he should be at his beloved Saturday afternoon match. Throughout this show, Hill is laughing at himself, at us and, of course, at football obsession.

The monologue is not completely without flaws: some strange sound design early on and a couple of narrative connections lost. Set against this was a truly engaged audience, shouting encouragement as he necked those pints, singing along to the match anthems, and roaring with laughter as he threw himself around afterwards. Clearly most of them, unlike me, knew what they were in for. And everyone was on their feet at the end, quietening only as Hill – crying himself – read out this thanks and credits, mostly to show director Sean Turner who took a bet on him back in 2023.

‘Why I Stuck a Flare…..’ is leaving now for New York. Not surprising, in 2026; yet I can’t help wondering what American audiences, who grew up with films like Jerry Maguire and Field of Dreams, will make of this extraordinary addition to football arts.

MS. HOLMES & MS. WATSON – APT 2B

Arcola Theatre

★★★

“a funny show that does a fine job in entertaining its audience”

It’s clear from the moment actor Tendai Humphrey Sitima comes onstage and welcomes us with his improvised prologue that this is no ordinary Sherlock Holmes narrative. It’s wacky, whimsical and most importantly, it takes place post pandemic. Writer Kate Hamill transports us to…today and brings out a fresh dynamic between the infamous duo of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, whose genders have been swapped to female.

Dr. Joan Watson finds herself in a transitional period and is somehow convinced to live with Holmes, a manic and eccentric consulting detective. For Holmes, everything is a puzzle that needs to be solved and she invites Watson in a world of clues, puzzles and mystery. Other well-known characters from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original stories appear, like Mrs. Hudson, Irene Adler, Lestrade and of course, Holmes’ nemesis, Moriarty. Nothing is what it seems as we join Holmes and Watson in a chase that leaves us breathless.

The relationship between Holmes and Watson has a playful quality and an underlying romantic element, which is never fully acted upon. This is for the best, as the two hours and thirty minute run is not enough to introduce to us to the adapted world, the newly fleshed characters, unpack two mysteries and explore a potential romantic layer in the relationship of the titular characters. It already feels overcrowded and at times tiring, especially towards the end where everything is laid out and plot twist after plot twist are revealed.

Holmes, played by Lucy Farrett, is a ball of peculiar energy, has a flair for the dramatic and uses big gestures with intensely comic facial expressions. It’s an interesting interpretation, but it ignores the character’s genius and leans more to high-stakes comedy. Watson, played by Simona Brown, doesn’t seem to diverge from the same level of tension and frustration with everything that’s happening and Holmes’ behaviour. Tendai Humphrey Sitima and Alice Lucy complete the rest of the cast, playing multiple characters; they both gain laughter from the audience, but the multi rolling gets a tad dull in its overplayed boldness.

Under Sean Turner’s direction, this modern adaptation is what I imagine the movie Clue would look like if the actors were trained in Commedia dell’arte. The physical comedy is entertaining, but there are moments where it feels forced and stagnant. It’d be interesting to see some more variation to help the audience keep up and be genuinely surprised by the script.

One of the most exciting aspects of this production is the hyper-realistic set, an intriguing clutter of items, secret entrances and two levels that provide a visual enhancement to the story. Set designer Max Dorey didn’t hold back and the complicated stage configuration could also be a physical representation of Holmes’ idiosyncratic brain and unusual thought processing. Lighting, by David Howe, and sound, by Hattie North, help immensely with the different locations, as well as with highlighting the comedic tone of the narrative.

It’s a funny show that does a fine job in entertaining its audience, without the need to be particularly familiar with the source material. Yet, there is a lot going on, from the witty jokes, the constant moving around and surprises that seem to never end, and you can’t help but feel exhausted by the time the show ends.

Tag Archives: Sean Turner

WHY I STUCK A FLARE UP MY AR*E FOR ENGLAND

★★★★

Garrick Theatre

WHY I STUCK A FLARE UP MY ARE FOR ENGLAND*

Garrick Theatre

★★★★

“an hour of pure theatre comedy gold”

WHY I STUCK A FLARE UP MY ARE FOR ENGLAND*

Garrick Theatre

Reviewed on 21st June 2026

by REVIEWER

Photography by Rah Petherbridge

WHY I STUCK A FLARE UP MY ARSE

WHY I STUCK A FLARE UP MY ARSE

WHY I STUCK A FLARE UP MY ARSE

MS. HOLMES & MS. WATSON – APT 2B

★★★

Arcola Theatre

MS. HOLMES & MS. WATSON – APT 2B

Arcola Theatre

★★★

“a funny show that does a fine job in entertaining its audience”