With male loneliness widespread in our modern age, award-winning poet Lewis Buxton comes to Nottingham to share his very personal struggles and how he found a way forward...
The modern world has an epidemic of loneliness, particularly among men. And suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50, comprising 75% of the death toll.
So, poet Lewis Buxton’s new UK show Friend, addresses a vital need when he explores male friendships. What we might think of as heterosexual intimacy. Through his poems and stories, he invites us to join him on his quest for besties. Role models, comrades, brothers, simply others blokes to hang out with, go to football matches, watch rubbish TV, sink a pint down the local. Such aspects of life may not seem so important, next to marriage, family and career. However, Lewis seems to be saying that without ‘your tribe’ or ‘your people’ you will never be whole. And all of this he links to his own mental health struggles and OCD.
The apogee of his act is 45 minutes of monologue about seeking a new mate in his native Norwich. It takes in football, the sitcom Friends (clearly a big influence on Lewis’ image of what life could be like), grief, expectations, and finally, an epiphany leading to new maturity and understanding.
okay, that’s the first flush of youth over, so now what
Lewis is superb throughout. He is always funny, poignant, soulful, with the audience in the palm of his hand. His delivery of his lines is word perfect, the material easy to follow and relatable to the audience, both male and female. His worldview is very much that of someone leaving their twenties and thinking, okay, that’s the first flush of youth over, so now what? As such, his work will especially speak to thirty-somethings. Yet at the same time, his theme is universal to all ages. Sixty-somethings still want buddies too.
His tour accompanies the launch of his latest poetry collection, also called Friend.
Lewis was supported by Leanne Moden, a well-known champion of poetry on the Nottingham scene. Leanne too was excellent, sharing six of her poems around the theme of friendship. The audience loved it.
Kudos to the Nottingham Central Library in hosting Lewis’ tour. It is fast becoming the coolest venue in the city, with its wide range of events.
Lewis Buxton’s Friend tour played at the Nottingham Central Library on Tuesday November 19th 2024.
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