Show about Brexit, leave voters and refugees coming to Preston

A leading performance poet is bringing his controversial show about Brexit to Preston.

Matt Abbott will perform Two Little Ducks, an acclaimed set of poems examining pre-Brexit Britain, at Vinyl Tap on Adelphi Street.

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Abbott uses his diverse experiences – from growing up in Wakefield where 66 per cent voted Leave, to volunteering at Calais Jungle refugee camp – to question what it means to be British in 2019.

Abbott said: “There are two reasons why I wrote this show. Firstly, I was fed up of people labelling all Leave voters as ‘thick, ignorant, racist Northerners’.

“My home city of Wakefield voted 66 per cent Leave, and through my heritage and my upbringing, I understand a lot of the reasons why. And the way that Brexit’s playing out at the moment is only heightening the damaging social divides that were caused by the referendum.

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“Secondly, I’m still shocked by the dehumanisation of refugees at the moment – not just a lack of sympathy but real vitriolic hatred. And much as it doesn’t apply to most Leave voters, there is unfortunately an overlap when it comes to the Brexit movement and anti-refugee sentiment.

“So, to perform the show in Preston, which voted 53.3 per cent Leave, is really important to me. Nobody knows what will happen, and folk are changing their views on things all the time. But demonising every single Leave voter, and viewing refugees as vermin, will never be acceptable.

“There’s a lot of nuance and a lot of anger and a lot of historical factors. And because of where I was and what I was doing in summer 2016, I’ve written this show to try and make sense of it all.”

Show promoter Garry Cook said: “This is a powerful, personal and political spoken-word show from one of UK poetry’s rising stars. Abbott channels the human side of politics to look at national identity, preconceptions, class and anti-establishment anger. Poetic flair and storytelling, with a unique insight into the summer that changed everything.”

Two Little Ducks is on at Vinyl Tap on Wednesday 13 February. Doors open at 7pm and the show starts at 8pm. Tickets are £5 on the door or from WeGotTickets. Follow Abbott on Twitter at @MattAbbottPoet.

Will you be going to the show? Let us know in the comments below.