Preview: Luke Wright Brings Deeply Personal "Later Life Letter" to the North East

 

Luke Wright Brings Deeply Personal "Later Life Letter" to the North East

Later Life Letter

Northern Stage, Newcastle | 4 March 2026

ARC Stockton | 5 March 2026

Queen's Hall Arts Centre, Hexham | 22 May 2026

Award-winning poet and performer Luke Wright arrives in the North East with his most personal show to date, Later Life Letter—a strikingly honest, funny and deeply moving exploration of adoption, identity and belonging that blends poetic stand-up with memoir and myth.

This autobiographical production unpicks the true story of Wright's adoption through a script brimming with life and the lives he could have had. What's it like to stumble across your birth mother on Facebook? How do you honour the parents who raised you while satisfying a curiosity about where you came from? What does it mean that you married a social worker? These are the questions Wright unpacks within a captivating hour of storytelling.

The title refers to a letter written by a social worker to an adopted child for them to read when older. In this production, Wright directs audiences through moments where a poem can hold more truth than a paragraph ever could, creating a magnificently vulnerable tale of family and the strange coincidences that connect us.

Luke Wright Later Life Letter
Photo: Emily Fae

Wright comments: "Later Life Letter grew out of a need to understand where I came from, and why the idea of belonging still preoccupies me well into middle age. I've always known I was adopted, but only recently started to explore what that really means—not just for me, but for anyone trying to piece together a sense of self from incomplete stories. The show blends poetry, memoir, and stand-up to tell a story about family, privilege, and love in modern Britain. It's about how we edit our pasts to make our presents bearable—and what happens when the old stories no longer fit."

Recognised for his blistering live performances and heartfelt writing, Luke Wright has toured internationally, supported John Cooper Clarke, and MC'd for The Libertines. A regular voice on BBC Radio 4, his work delves into themes of family, politics and modern masculinity. His writing and performance have earned him a Fringe First, a Stage Award, and the 2021 Saboteur Spoken Word Artist of the Year.

Later Life Letter is about looking for meaning and the role luck has in shaping our lives, offering a frank account of what it means to be someone's child. The show is touring the UK throughout 2026 and is also being published as a full memoir in poetry by Little, Brown Book Group, where no emotion is simple or expected.

What the critics say:

"A streetwise panache and a sardonic comic verve to rival Stewart Lee" ★★★★★ Telegraph

"Honesty, humour, ire and wonder. He is at the peak of his powers" ★★★★★ Stage

"His poems shoot arrows through the heart, or leave you dazzled by their virtuosity" ★★★★★ The List

Running time: 60 minutes

Recommended: 14+

Tickets:

• Northern Stage, Newcastle: northernstage.co.uk
• ARC Stockton: arconline.co.uk
• Queen's Hall Arts Centre, Hexham: queenshall.co.uk