Luke Wright presents eight caustic tales from Broken Britain. Let him lead you through Blighty’s run-down shopping precincts, provincial highstreets and airless television studios to introduce a cast of tone-deaf pop wannabes, terrorized single mums and baby-boomers with “afflu-AIDS.” Between each poem Luke offers a pithy crash course in the history of balladry, from broadsides to Christina Aguilera. Stunning Steadman-esque illustrations accompany each poem courtesy of Sam Ratcliffe.

* * * * * The Scotsman – “Timely, patriotic, touching and consistently funny, this outstanding show marries form and content in a way that defies superlative and leaves a choking gap within you when it finishes.”

* * * * * The List – “The real deal … exquisite hour … John Cooper Clarke has said of the poet: ‘He must be on some kind of dope’. Whatever it is that Luke Wright has been ingesting, artists of all genres need to get it bottled right now.”

* * * * * One4Review – “Funny, extremely entertaining and masterfully delivered creations from this imposing lad from Colchester.”

* * * * * Broadway Baby – “The simple, contained ballad form allows Wright’s jaw-dropping lyrical talent to be exhibited in a straightforward manner which eschews frivolity or pretension … at once hilarious and heartbreaking, as well as profoundly human.”

* * * * The Daily Telegraph – “A zestful relish for pump-action word-play combines with a thoughtful and deeply felt understanding of just how messed-up Britain is today, whether it’s celebrity-worship, elitist politicians or hellish anti-social behaviour. Thoroughly recommended.”

* * * * WhatsOnStage – “(the poems) conjure modern British life in an expertly observed, lovingly critical and (in the best sense) patriotic style, in a show with ideas and intentions far larger than the small, attentive Underbelly audience that Wright will surely soon outgrow.”

* * * * Chortle – “This impresses for its poignant literacy”

* * * * Fest – “One particular tale has a woman crying in the row behind. Another provokes an old man to kiss his wife on the cheek. The world, as it turns out, hasn’t really changed and poetry is still as relevant and powerful today as it ever was.”

* * * * Hand + Star – “They are masterpieces of energetic word-craft.”

* * * * Exeunt – “Wright could well be the most relevant poet of this generation, which, … makes his show perhaps the most important of this year’s Fringe.”

* * * * Threeweeks – “Wright’s set is one that confronts our collective evils without preaching about them.”

Currently on tour, see gigs page.

Venue managers and programmers – to book the show contact:
Christian Knowles | Tel 020 8693 1800 / 07970 152865 | christian@ckproductions.co.uk