Luke Wright's Cynical Ballads

Essex lad and performance poet Luke Wright delights in English. He delivers a set of sad, gritty urban stories of life in the UK, stories told with passion, anger and aplomb, all in rhyme. True to the show's title, these are not pretty tales, yet Wright's pitch-dark stories are funny and full of insight. He opens with The Drunk Train, a richly detailed stagger through a typical Saturday night anywhere in London. Alight at Liverpool Street station and take your chances. My favourite ballad was the one about the baby boomer parents intent on spending everything before they die so their spoiled offspring inherit nothing. The lengths this particular couple go to are hilarious. Wright scorns, pities and lampoons a raft of characters. Some simply have their stories told, with feeling, heart and anger. There is a couple of moving and unnerving stories that you wish weren't true, but are. He finishes with a very beautiful song as part of a homage to the dignity of an aging soldier, then reboards The Drunk Train on the way home.

It's so good to go to a show that glories in language and revels in unpretentious cleverness. Brilliant stuff, intelligent, honest and truly entertaining, this show makes you want much more of this sort of thing.

Running at The Malthouse until Saturday 27 October.