As someone who grew up in a post-industrial city in Northern England, I had heard similar stories before, but never one with such a razor’s edge. This is not an easy play. This is a confrontation. Mark Thomas will not let you look away as he surges across the stage with the desperate urgency of someone who needs us all to understand. As he digs down into his own psyche, we see a shell of masculinity and British post-Empire, post-Thatcher, ‘BOSH’-esque behaviour be stripped away to reveal a scrawny child who just wants his dad to truly love him. Whoever reads this review must see this play. A dirty, battered gem tucked into the corner of Holden Street Theatre, this show will hit with the bite of an oik outside Wetherspoons on a Saturday.