Poet Luke Wright, fresh from winning two awards at the Edinburgh Fringe, brought his show What I Learnt From Johnny Bevan to Brighton poetry slam Hammer and Tongue.
Raw, powerful and cleverly put together, his poem felt like a modern epic, in the same tradition of spoken word that has existed for several thousand years.
Luke moves from character to character with ease, exploring the university friendship between smart, impassioned, working class boy Johnny and Nick, who is living the safe life set out by his middle class parents.
It’s hard, impossible even, to pin down the heart of his poem. Is it about politics? Adolescence and adulthood? Gentrification and wealth distribution? It’s all of this, performed with an explosive energy.
He was supported by local poet Robin Lawley, who performed several of his own poems, with themes ranging from life-modelling to ISIS, and also read verses from the Koran.
Somewhat awkward on the stage, his self-deprecating manner detracted a little from his poetry, but his final poem, about Jeremy Corbyn, was a witty and well-paced delight.
The evening concluded with a poetry slam, and a range of brave local poets volunteered to be scored out of ten by the audience, in a lively and friendly end to the evening.
Four stars
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