Don’t be fooled by that exclamation mark. While spoken-word veteran Luke Wright’s latest show riffs on, subverts and interrogates the concept of ‘joy’, this is not a piece for anyone seeking a quick-fix dopamine hit, or an hour of boundless ebullience in word form. In fact, it’s those 21st-century dopamine shots Wright has in his crosshairs from the start. Taking in social-media scrolling, alcohol abuse, and the small ‘treats’ we reward ourselves with (which only make us crave more), he examines the shallow highs that distract us from life’s traumas, regrets, guilts and losses.

This is a candid and reflective show, at times brutally honest. But penetrating its bittersweet moments there is a light that shines through, in the form of Wright’s (second) wife and children. Can true joy, he considers, ultimately only exist as part of a constellation of other equally potent emotions?

Wright is a brilliantly charismatic performer, and when at his best, his poems shoot arrows through the heart, or leave you dazzled by their virtuosity. Not all of them hit this level, but Joy! is a show built of soul, that lets you glimpse through its windows at an unvarnished picture of a human life. 

Luke Wright: Joy!, Pleasance Dome, until 13 August, 2.55pm.