Words: Haneul Lee
Image: Stefan Willhoit

4 stars

Bryony Byrne’s Fan/Girl is unpredictable, heartfelt, and honest. It reflects her journey with football, a tale familiar to many girls in sports, yet Bryony brings it vividly to life by shifting between personas—Eric Cantona (herself with a duct tape monobrow), Elle (a high school friend portrayed as a hand puppet), and an 11-year-old Bryony, eager to excel at football like her idol, Cantona.

Bryony recreates the feel of primary school, leading singalongs of “One More Step” and involving the audience in a playful football match within the lecture-hall setting of Summerhall. Audience members are invited to the front to perform celebratory goal rituals, with the crowd enthusiastically cheering them on. This immersive approach, coupled with Bryony’s earnest smile, sincere eye contact, and a nervous habit of scrunching her football shorts, draws us into her world.

As the play progresses, we sense the inevitable disconnect with the sport she has made us all fall in love with. The introduction of the hand puppet Elle foreshadows the pressures of (Catholic) high school that pull Bryony away from football. After she enlists the audience’s help to apply makeup, the tone shifts, confronting us with our complicity in enforcing societal expectations on young girls. When childhood Bryony falls out of love with football and, coincidentally, Cantona, adult Bryony steps in to reflect on her current relationship with the sport. She may not play anymore, but through this play, her love for football endures—leaving us with something to cheer for.

Fan/Girl
Summerhall – Demonstration Room
12.10
Aug 17-18, 20-26