The bullring in the title is Birmingham’s famous shopping centre, with this spoken-word theatre piece an ode to that Midlands city, woven around Nathan Queeley-Dennis’ tale of seeking romance. Malaise, low-level nerves and anxiety mingle with the smell of home-cooked rice and peas in his fun, confessional Brummie tale of mandem solidarity, emoji conversations and WhatsApp messages.

We join him on a trip to the barber’s, hear him nervously prepping for a first date, fly-on-the-wall with him in his call-centre job before eventually doing drinks and a club with a potential new girlfriend. Queeley-Dennis makes room in his multi-character monologue for a brief history of techno and how it was appropriated by white popular culture, plus nods to Birmingham’s rich reggae roots.  

His loud bursts of Beyoncé song clips and Jamaican-accented life-advice from his father (disappointed at his son’s Britishness) are highlights in the one-man show, but it’s the undercurrent of dreams not followed and risks not taken that propel this mundanely mighty story. 

Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz, Summerhall, until 27 August, 8.20pm.