After nearly a year of planning, writing, rehearsing, designing, promoting, booking, tweaking, stressing, fidgeting and all that jazz, I’m finally ready to go to Edinburgh. My ‘Two Little Ducks’ show runs at Underbelly Cowgate from 3-27 August, with Monday 14 as a day off. My slot is 2.20pm, and tickets are available here.
The show means an awful lot to me, on several levels, and is undoubtedly the biggest and best achievement of my career to date – regardless of the outcome in Edinburgh.
I discuss a lot of the social and economic reasons which led traditionally working-class communities to vote for Brexit, and juxtapose that with my time volunteering at the Calais Jungle last summer. There’s also a third strand, which is fictionalised and leans on my favourite ‘kitchen-sink realism’ genre.
It is political, but it’s also very personal, and leans heavily on the human element of these subjects: observational storytelling more than anything else. There’s also humour, and I’ve presented it in an accessible, engaging and digestible manner.
Most important to me is the fact that this show couldn’t have been written or performed in any other year in history. It’s bang up to date when it comes to reflecting the social and political climate in the UK, and all of the stories come as a product of circumstance and experience. As both an activist and a poet, it’s at the very core of why I do what I do.
I’m shit scared. But also incredibly excited. So if you are up in Edinburgh, come and see the show – I’m really proud to be sharing it on the world’s biggest stage. Ta!
Matt Abbott Poet 