John Hegley: An American in Luton

The tall and unannounced Maine man appears
in a seemingly ordinary 1960's English living room.
He is the high chaperone and bringer of a grandmother
who has not seen her stamp-collecting son for decades;
her grandchildren, never.
His reuniting job done, this curious visitor hands the children each a ten-dollar bill
says his goodbyes and is gone - off up the suburban street, into the evening
and perhaps a hotel in the town centre
on his horse.
(A hobby horse, in fact, given him by one of the children)
Festival and radio regular John Hegley returns with a story of family, fantasy, love, loss - and the long unseen
son's stamp album. A Caravaggio and a wry dry stone-waller are also thrown into the mixture. The show
contains a good deal of yet-to-be-published material alongside some back catalogue favourites.
Devised for adults but not unsuitable for the odd nine-year-old. Drawings will be provided. But not biscuits.

★★★★ - ‘a lovely show of stories, music, poetry and silliness’
British Theatre Guide on John’s previous show Biscuit of Destiny
'Just because he is one of the funniest men alive, do not underestimate his dedicated gentleness'
Adrian Mitchell, The New Statesman

About John and his work
‘Awesomely mundane’
The Independent
‘Scandalously talented’
Sunday Times
‘Bleeding marvellous’
NME
Agreeable whimsy, distinctive comic perspective and ear-catching poems and songs’
Chortle
‘His words are dry and whimsical and quite often make little sense’
Luton News
Biography
John Hegley was born in Newington Green, Islington, North London. and now lives in the neighbouring
borough of Hackney. He led two John Peel sessions with his band The Popticians on Radio1 in 1983/4, hosted
the Border TV poetry series, Word of Mouth in 1989 and was a Perrier Comedy Award nominee in the same
year. There have been three series of Hearing with Hegley on BBC Radio 4 - 1996-2000 and Hegley was the
BBC Online poet in residence 1999. In 2010 – he worked with Company Paradiso in Warning, May Contain
Nuts alongside BBC Radios Sussex and Berkshire, challenging stigmas around mental illness.
Hegley was Keats House poet in residence in 2012, and in 2019, Arts Council England funded his touring
collaborative project Putting You in the Picture; working with fellow poets to take children to art galleries to
delve into, and respond to art works with drawing, writing and cut-out paper characters.