Matt Abbott Poet

After four months and hundreds of emails sent, and then a few more months sitting on the dates, I’m thrilled to finally announce a 22-date UK theatre tour for my debut one-man show ‘Two Little Ducks’.

Those of you that’ve been following my career for at least a year will know that I took an early version of the show up to Edinburgh Fringe for a full run at Underbelly Cowgate last summer. The show was well received by punters and critics alike, but by the end of the run, I knew that I wanted to continue to develop it in order to truly do it justice.

From November onwards I started tweaking it, and then earlier this year I was offered a publishing deal by Birmingham-based indie outfit Verve Poetry Press. This will be my first ever full poetry collection, which I’m over the moon about. It also meant that the show had to be 100% finished by the start of June – and so I entered a brutal rewriting process for the very final version.

This version was premiered at London’s Roundhouse a few weeks back as part of The Last Word Festival. It’s undoubtedly been the defining stage of my poetry career to date, and I’m incredibly excited to see where I’ll be at by the end of the month.

‘Two Little Ducks’ means everything to me. I’m immensely proud of my working-class roots and feel that it’s vital for a genuinely working-class voice to articulate some of the issues that led to the Leave vote. Also, volunteering at the Calais Jungle had a colossal impact on me, as you’d imagine, and the mainstream media’s portrayal (or whitewash) of the situation in Calais still infuriates me. Finally, I’ve been writing the Maria character for ten years now, so I’ve loved developing her story to satisfy the themes of this show.

The collection is released on 4 October available to pre-order here. As well as the 22 poems from ‘Two Little Ducks’, it also features selected poems from 2015-2018, which is the period in which I wrote the content of the show. There’s also a digital album available (same link), which was recorded at Eiger Studios in Leeds.

This tour is being co-produced by Norwich Arts Centre and my Nymphs & Thugs label, and is being part-funded with support from Arts Council England. Here are the dates…

October 2018

• Fri 5 | Birmingham | Waterstones | In partnership with Verve Poetry Press
• Sat 6 | Huddersfield (Milnsbridge) | The Red & Green Club
• Sun 7 | Middlesbrough | Middlesbrough Little Theatre Club
• Wed 10 | Norwich | Norwich Arts Centre
• Thu 11 | Southend-on-Sea | Twenty One | In partnership with Sundown Arts
• Fri 12 | Ware | Southern Maltings
• Sun 14 | Derby | The Maypole Theatre & Cafe Bar | In partnership with Word Wise
• Wed 17 | London | The Albany Deptford
• Thu 18 | London | The Albany Deptford
• Fri 19 | Margate | Tom Thumb Theatre
• Sat 20 | Chew Magna | Chew Valley Performing Arts Centre | In partnership with Chew Valley Arts
• Sun 21 | Cardigan | Cellar Bar
• Thu 25 | Durham | Wabi-Sabi Academy | In partnership with Gong Fu Poets
• Fri 26 | Leeds | Seven Arts
• Sat 27 | Goole | Castaway
• Sun 28 | Glasgow | The Old Hairdresser’s | In partnership with Sonnet Youth

November 2018

• Fri 2 | Leicester | Upstairs at The Western
• Tue 6 | Clevedon | The Theatre Shop
  Tickets | Facebook event| In partnership with Theatre Orchard
• Wed 7 | Coventry | The Albany Theatre
  Tickets | Faceboook event
• Thu 8 | Bury | The Met
  Tickets | Facebook event
• Fri 9 | Chester | St. Mary’s Creative Space
  Tickets | Facebook event | In partnership with Testify Poetry
• Fri 16 | Wakefield | Theatre Royal
  SOLD OUT | Facebook event