The Driver narrates his life from behind the wheel, taking in the ring roads, flyovers, service stations, leisure parks, motels and lay-bys of England. As he drives, he keeps an eye on the past through the rear-view mirror.
Luke Wright‘s words are set to music by composer Benjamin Oliver. The music combines orchestral sonorities, at times referencing English medieval polyphony and music by Purcell and Parry, with the familiar sounds heard within the environment of a car.
Wright’s narrative is both a travelogue of England’s least glamorous places and the story of a break-up, a love poem to being away and our ability to keep on going. It’s sad, celebratory and caustic with all the squalor and romance the road has to offer.
An initial performance is on Monday 5th February, 1pm at Turner Sims in Southampton. The performance is FREE, tickets here. Then the plan is to record it to make an album on vinyl, and hopefully a few more shows!