The Isle of Man Arts Council is proud to present Luke Wright’s highly acclaimed Cynical Ballads at the Promenade Suite in the Villa Marina on Friday 4th November at 8pm. 4Talent award winner and Aisle16 founder Luke Wright has been hailed as performance poetry’s key revivalist. He is a regular on BBC Radio 4’s Sony Award-winning Saturday Live and wrote the Grierson Award-nominated Seven Ages of Love for Channel 4. His four previous poetry stage shows have played to sold out audiences at The Edinburgh Fringe, got five star reviews and have completed extensive national tours. Luke programmes all the poetry for The Poetry Arena at The Latitude Festival, the largest poetry event in Europe. With Cynical Ballads Luke Wright presents eight caustic tales from Broken Britain. Let him lead you through Blighty’s run-down shopping precincts, provincial high streets 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. Cynical Ballads sold out at Edinburgh this year. Local singer/songwriter Maxie Richardson will also be performing blues music on 4th November. This is the second time the Arts Council has brought Luke to perform in the Isle of Man, the first being in 2007 with Luke Wright – Poet and Man. Luke’s performances and work with schools are renowned for the fresh approach he brings to poetry and Luke will once again be working with local secondary and primary schools on the island. Tickets for Luke Wright’s Cynical Ballads are priced ?10.00 and are available from the Welcome Centre, online at www.villagaiety.com or from the ticket hotline on 600555 (under 16s must be accompanied by an adult). For more information please contact the DCCL arts office on 694598 or visit the Arts Council’s website www.iomarts.com * * * * * 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 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.” * * * * 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.” -Ends-