Luke Wright is a Fringe staple now, and in ‘Joy’ he returns to his roots, moving away from his recent character pieces. ‘Joy’ finds Wright in a happy place, married to the ‘love of [his] life’ and making a home with her and his two children in Bungay, Suffolk. Opening with ‘Treats’ – a reflection on those little things we do to treat ourselves – ‘Joy’ deepens from there, exploring themes of family, fatherhood, contentment and Wright’s experience as an adopted person.

Not only are these poems warm and witty, they are also technically deft: a univocalism in ‘a’ is particularly impressive, and a sestina is set up amusingly with Wright’s guide to the structure of such a poem. His poems are clever, and so is he.

There is an enormous amount of heart in this show, and it leaves his audience aglow. What a joy.

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