Incoming The Cut, Halesworth, Suffolk *** The time has passed when the chief duty of a Poet Laureate was to write fawning ditties on royal engagements. andrew Motion used his ten years in the post to address the social problems of his time. Homelessness, bullying and climate change all feature in his work, and in 2003 he wrote a poem protesting against the invasion of Iraq. It seems inevitable that his first stage play should attack this country's fondness for going to war. It is directed by Steven atkins