Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2017 – FRANKIE VAH
New politically charged show from 2015 Fringe First/Stage Award winner
We all want something to believe in. It’s 1987 and Frankie Vah gorges on love, radical politics, and skuzzy indie stardom. But can he keep it all down?
Following the multi award-winning success What I Learned From Johnny Bevan, Luke Wright’s second verse play deals with love, loss and belief, against a backdrop of grubby indie venues and 80s politics.
Simon Mortimer, the vicar’s son from Essex, has lost his religion. Replaced by radical politics, ranting poetry, and his girlfriend Eve, Simon performs his poetry as Frankie Vah. They live on love and in penury, but when Frankie goes on tour with indie darlings The Midnight Shift, his new world is put to the test.
Expect frenetic guitars, visceral verse, and a Morrissey-sized measure of heartache. Written and performed in deft verse by the Fringe First and Stage Award for Acting Excellence winner, directed by Fringe First winner Joe Murphy and Alex Thorpe and scored by Ian Catskilkin of the band Art Brut.
Luke Wright’s first theatre show What I Learned from Johnny Bevan took the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe by storm. The show received a Fringe First for the quality of the writing and Wright a Stage Award for Acting Excellence for his hurricane performance, alongside four and five star reviews across the board. It toured extensively, has been optioned for a film, and sold out a London run.
Luke Wright tours the world each year with his unique brand of poetry and can often be seen opening for John Cooper Clarke. His verse documentaries on Channel 4 have been enjoyed by millions and his poems can often be heard on
BBC Radios 3 & 4. He curates the spoken word line-ups at Port Eliot Festival, Festival Number 6 and The Edinburgh International Book Festival. lukewright.co.uk
Joe Murphy is the Baylis Director at The Old Vic where recent work includes Woyzeck and No’s Knife. He won a Fringe First with Nabokov for Bunny and universal acclaim for Blink both of which transferred Off-Broadway.
Alex Thorpe graduated from the Theatre Practice degree at the Central School of Speech and Drama and the Theatre Directing programme at Birkbeck College. His work includes Twelfth Night at The Orange Tree Theatre.
Luke also performs What I Learned From Johnny Bevan at Underbelly 21-27 August.