On Stage
TBC
The Driver is an epic poem by Luke Wright set to orchestral music by Benjamin Oliver, they offer an intimate reworked version of the original score with the composer at the piano, first created for Latitude Festival.
The Driver narrates his life from behind the wheel, taking in the ring roads, flyovers, service stations, leisure parks, motels and lay-bys of England. As he drives, he keeps an eye on the past through the rear-view mirror.
In telling the story of the eponymous driver the piece is a kind of travelogue of England’s least glamorous places and the story of a break-up, a love poem to being away and our ability to keep on going. Oliver’s music supports the narrative, often drawing on English music including Purcell, Parry and medieval polyphony. The piece is sad, celebratory and caustic with all the squalor and romance the road has to offer.