Top stand up poet Luke Wright emerges from his enforced retirement with an infectious thirst for life
For 20 years Suffolk resident Luke Wright has been used to touring the world to perform his flamboyant, political and riotously funny poetry. In March 2020 all that came to a halt. He is now emerging from his temporary enforced retirement with an infectious thirst for life. But what kind of life? And does it bear any resemblance to the one he had before?
His new show Come! Come On! Meet Me! addresses that very topic and comes to The Marina Theatre, Lowestoft on Saturday 4 September. He was last at the venue as support to John Cooper Clarke in 2019.
Against the backdrop of pandemic politics, ageing parents, and an endless droning culture war, Wright throws a squat party in his ‘poor old heart’, featuring a cast of murderous swans, sozzled devils, and the people we most want to protect.
He said ‘usually I spend much of the year touring around the world so in the last 18 months has given me time to reflect on this and how the pandemic has affected people from all walks of life. It’s going to be a thrill to take this new collection of poems on tour and especially to Lowestoft where I’ve always enjoyed performing’.
A professional poet for over 20 years, Luke Wright is one of the UK’s most riveting spoken word performers, delivering his poems with intensity and charisma. Keenly personal but always inflected with irreverent humour, his poetry is always based on his life - as a poet, a father and a son. He is acknowledged as one of Britain’s top poets and one of the principle architects of the now thriving UK spoken word scene. The Guardian said ‘His performances rumble with rage, passion and humour’and no less a personage than Patti Smith praised his ‘Cool poems’
Whether he’s playing master of ceremonies at a Libertines show in front of 5,000 screaming rock fans (‘Luke is one of the greats. A poetic pugilist. Beguiling and hypnotic.’ Carl Barât) or reciting Georgian ballads down your local, Luke is adept at taking poetry to places it doesn’t normally go. His poems can be tender, riotous, caustic and romantic and he delivers them with the ferocity and panache of a raconteur at the top of his game.
In the past year, mostly confined to his home in Suffolk he has been dubbed ‘the bard of lockdown’ by The Daily Telegraph after his marathon stint of 100 consecutive nights of online shows.
His published work includes three full collections, three pamphlets and three verse plays. He is the winner of a Fringe First, a Stage Award for Acting Excellence and In May he won a richly deserved third Saboteur Award, for Best Spoken Word Performer 2021. ‘Hurtling, headlong storytelling stuffed full of savage satire and astute observations’ said The Stage
In 2021 Luke is also touring The Ballad Seller, based on his book featuring illustrations by the Guardian’s chief political cartoonist Martin Rowson and his third verse play The Remains of Logan Dankworth.
Listings info:
Luke Wright: Come! Come On! Meet Me
Leading poet delivers his new collection with the ferocity and panache of a raconteur at the very top of his game.
Saturday 4 Sept 7.30pm
Lowestoft Marina Theatre, Marina NR32 1HH
£15 01502 533200 www.marinatheatre.co.uk
More dates are being added all the time, visit www.lukewright.co.uk for the latest list
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