Perhaps the unsurpassable defining image of the worst of English football fan culture is that of Charlie Perry, who was filmed with a lit flare up his backside at the Euro 2020 final. Perry’s moment of excess inspires this one-person play, written and performed by Alex Hill. Here, it’s the story of Billy, an impressionable young fan who falls in with the wrong crowd, and ultimately loses more than his dignity. In lesser hands this could have been a sneering, haughty affair, but Hill’s deft script and adroit performance lend it real depth. At the highest moments he sweeps the audience up into Billy’s passion and exhilaration, and this means the emotional punches, when they come, hit all the harder.

Underbelly Bristo Square, until 26 Aug.
tw rating 4/5 | [Jon Stapley]