Luke Wright - The Ballad Seller

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 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 peer inside the restless mind of a lonely itinerant ballad seller. 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.’ Guardian

‘Wright’s full-throated reverie is spellbinding.’ The Mirror

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 is a Fringe First and Stage award winner and is the author of 8 books, and five albums of spoken word.

This show is part of The Inn Crowd at The Festival Speak Easy 

Three days. Six shows. Experience some of the best spoken word and live literature in the UK in our very special secret pub hidden in
Festival Gardens.

Grab a drink, settle in, and fill your hearts with touching stories about humanity, kindness, growing older, and perhaps even a rat.

The Inn Crowd have commissioned this programme of brilliant artists and we can’t wait to bring them to Norwich.