IF the name John Osborne says “angry young man” to you, don’t worry – the John Osborne who is coming to Dorset with Artsreach on 12th and 13th August wants to spread a little happiness!

Already familiar to local audiences with his John Peel’s Shed solo show, the poet and storyteller returns with a new show, To Make People Happy, on Wednesday 12th at The Gaggle of Geese at Buckland Newton, at 8pm, and Thursday 13th at The Royal Oak, Drimpton, at 7.30.

Let’s face it, there has never been a better time for an uplifting show, something to cheer us all up. Poet and Bard of Barnsley Ian McMillan calls Osborne’s work “beautifully written, funny and poignant”.

To Make People Happy explores the humour section of second-hand book shops, jokes overheard on market stalls and finding the positives in life, even if that means finding friendship with your end-of-life carers and sharing a love of Chas ‘n’ Dave with a taxi driver after the world’s least appealing wedding. With audio clips of moments guaranteed to make an audience happy, this is a poetry show with a difference.