written and performed by Luke Wright
Running time: Approx. 1 hour 40 minutes, including a 20 minute interval.
Suitable for ages 14+
charity. comedy. family. live music. opera. play. poetry. storytelling.
“Wright’s full-throated reverie is spellbinding.”
Back in Georgian times we got our news from poetry. Before papers, broadcasts or the internet, ballad sellers would hawk their doggerel on street corners for a penny. Scandalous affairs, grisly crimes, and colourful characters were brought to life in rhyming verse long before the first tabloid was printed.
Now Luke Wright has rewritten the very best of these stories for the modern ear: take a trip through the Drury Lane gin shops with the Boxing Baroness; filch oysters by the dozen with Dando, the celebrated gormandiser; and escape the Bull Ring with Jemmy the Rockman. Expect scandal, excess, and beautiful flawed humanity.
“His performances rumble with rage, passion and humour. They are also peppered with brilliantly smart observations. You will leave his show brimming with energy, heart pounding and brain whirring.”
Luke Wright is a spit and sawdust wordsmith. His poems are inventive and engaging, documenting 21st century British life with wit, humanity, and panache. He performs his work with snarl and spit and he’s toured his wares around the world for 25 years. This will be the last planned staging of The Ballad Seller.
“Raw, rollicking first-person poetry…a hurtling, headlong hour of storytelling stuffed full of savage satire and astute observations, with the energy of Wright’s delivery surging.”
Why not plan ahead and book a delicious picnic? Local supper club Husk delivers delightful, gourmet picnics to our picnic field one hour before your show - menu and booking here.
