The UK’s finest multi-arts festival returns for its tenth edition, taking place from Thursday 16th to Sunday 19th July 2015 in the stunning grounds of Henham Park, Suffolk.
Boasting the biggest names in comedy, theatre, dance, film, cabaret, literature and performance, Latitude is unrivalled for the breadth, depth and quality of its arts programming. 2015 is no different, offering a spectacular choice of major shows, star acts and ground-breaking commissioned works.
Curator of the Arts Arenas Tania Harrison says:
“I’ve tried to look for something for everyone; across all scales of show, ages and ideas. From Kneehigh, who are appearing for the first time in the Theatre Arena at Latitude to Opera North’s stunning voices filling the Little House and Faraway Forest and Old Truck presenting Pramkicker (she kicked a pram) in the Live Art House, there is something exciting happening in every nook and cranny of the festival this year.
“We are excited to be supporting a wealth of new talent across the festival this year. And from ones-to-watch to one-offs to must-sees, we will have some spectacular special guest appearances from the virtuoso talents of Rambert on the Waterfront Stage to a wealth of dance talent across genres in ‘Club Life’ presented by East London Dance in the Theatre Arena.
“Once again we’re very pleased to present a Cabaret line up to suit all tastes- as long as your taste is for life changing spectacle, multi- talented musicians, games and huge fun... From Jonny Woo and Le Gateau Chocolat, to Bourgeois and Maurice, to the glory of Duckie and On Yer Bike - The Maggie Thatcher Game Show there’s a whole lot of playtime in the Cabaret Arena. It will make you sing, it will make you stare, it will make you dance and it will make your weekend- get your party pants on and shimmy on down to the Cabaret Arena.
“We are thrilled to be presenting a line up befitting of our 10th anniversary – it’s set to be quite the Birthday Weekend!”
Latitude’s Theatre Arena has long been renowned for hosting some of the art form’s biggest names while nurturing the stars of tomorrow. Performing this year will be Cornwall based theatre company Kneehigh, who have built a reputation for creating vigorous and popular theatre for audiences throughout the UK and beyond. Adapted by Michael Morpurgo (War Horse) and Kneehigh co-Artistic Director Emma Rice from Morpurgo’s book The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, 946 uses music, puppetry and foolishness to tell this tale of war, prejudice and love. Tender, political and surprisingly romantic, this story speaks to us all and will finally reveal the secrets the US and British governments tried to keep quiet. Over the past four decades Paines Plough has established itself as one of the leading new writing companies, producing work by a wide range of playwrights across the UK and abroad, and this year presenting with Latitude Festival their world premiere of With a Little Bit of Luck by Sabrina Mahfouz. National Theatre Live will present a screening of Everyman live from the National Theatre. BAFTA winner and Academy Award nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) takes the title role in this dynamic new production of one of English drama’s oldest plays, directed by the National Theatre’s new Director Rufus Norris. Comic Ruby Wax will bring us her manual on how to survive the 21st century in Sane New World, helping us to understand why we sabotage our own sanity using knowledge from her recent Oxford University Masters Degree in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy spiked with comedy in her critically acclaimed show.
Led by Artistic Director Alexandra Spencer-Jones, Action To The Word delivers dynamic, exciting and shocking theatre, from new musicals to electrifying adaptations of classics, and their performance of Dracula this year is bound to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. From Bryony Kimmings & Tim Grayburn comes a wickedly warming, brutally honest and heartbreaking show about the wonders and pitfalls of the human brain, being in love and what it takes to be a ‘real man’- Fake it ‘til you Make It: Special Latitude Festival Edition. Lost in Translation Circus will present The Hogwallops; with an original score that reflects themes ranging from domestic comedy to lost love, this high paced and extraordinary production is a treat for whole family. East London Dance present Lauren Fitzpatrick & Madeleine Gould, Boadicea Ladies, Soul Mavericks, Birdgang, Indahouse with their show ‘Club Life’, taking you on a journey through clubbing’s most influential eras from the Sixties to the Noughties. Watch your favourite club classics from Northern Soul to 90’s House brought to life by a live band of world-class musicians and some of the finest dancers and hip hop dance crews in the country, directed by choreographer Nathan ‘NEO’ Gordon (Flawless, Kylie Minogue, Streetdance 3D 1&2) and drummer/ music producer Jack Baker (Bonobo, Alice Russell, Lea Lea).
Theatre RE will bring their new production, Blind Man’s Song, described by The Stage as ‘superb...Full of fear and tenderness’, and Blind Summit, the makers of Fringe First award winning show 'The Table', and the puppetry at the London 2012 Olympics, come to Latitude with a puppet-docudrama which tells the true story of Jack and the Beanstalk, looking behind the scenes to uncover a dark tale of gambling, greed, theft and murder. Failed Sates, the thought provoking musical by Desmond O’Connor, will look at the War on Terror and the lengths to which a society will go in order to defend itself. Made in China will perform the premiere of their new production Tonight I’m Gonna be the New Me, an epic solo show that tap-dances its way to the core of who we are and the values we live by, and ‘Pick of the Pleasance’ Pipeline Theatre will bring their brand new production full of love, Spillikin and Sabrina Mahfouz’s poetic script fizzes with energy in Chef.
Theatre lovers can get their fix across the festival, from an in-depth discussion looking at how - from a flash of inspiration through to opening night - you can get your work on stage with Paines Plough's Joint Artistic Director James Grieve in Latitude’s Literary Arena, to the off-beat, sci-fi, Casio Keyboard operetta stylings of Stuart Bowden in the Cabaret Arena presented by The Soho Theatre in Before Us, an exuberant physical comedy, storytelling whirlwind.
Nestled within the Faraway Forest, theatrical studio space The Little House will host Opera North, a vibrant, lively organisation challenging conventional perceptions of opera with their production of I am Yours, Yours I am. Clean Break will present five short plays by Deborah Bruce, Theresa Ikoko, Laura Lomas, Chino Odimba and Ursula Rani Sarma, which will explore the pressures on our public services. Lily Bevan & Sally Phillips will bring their new collaboration Talking With Strangers and this year Fuel will present both David Rosenberg & Glenn Neath in their surreal and immersive productions Ring and Fiction. The Birmingham Repertory Theatre’s Back Down is the highly anticipated play by Steven Camden (aka Polarbear).
Playful, surprising and engaged with the world we all live in, Daniel Bye will perform his show Going Viral, while Unlimited Theatre will present two friends, talking (and singing) about what happens when we die in Am I Dead Yet? The Spring Festivals Commission 2015: Spring, Night Watch, Mayfest, Pulse and Latitude Festival present Action Hero with their exciting performance of Wrecking Ball, looking at consent, authorship and putting words in other people’s mouths, and what it really means to say ‘yes’. Festival favourite Figs in Wigs will bring their production of Show Off.
Tiata Fahodzi brings I Know All the Secrets in My World, an intimate duet about a father and son that meditates on grief, loss, disconnection, isolation, masculinity, femininity, fantasy and sexuality. Also taking to The Little House stage will be Spitz & Co with Gorilla, Unstable King with Game, Artful Badger with Wild Words Dark Sides, Poleroid Theatre with Plastic, The Wardrobe Ensemble with 1972: The Future of Sex and The Cuckoo Theatre, performing The Dog and the Elephant. How to Win against History, written by Seiriol Davies and presented by Aine Flanagan Productions, is a hilarious, ripped-up musical about expectations, manliness, disappointment and being totally fabulous: ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ meets ‘Noises Off’ in a ball gown. A frothy, glossy costume drama about the stories we tell to convince ourselves it's all going well, and the moments we realise it’s not.
In the Poetry Arena World Record Holding beatboxer and acclaimed rapper Testament smashes together UK Hip Hop with the poetry of William Blake. Celebrating the greatest counter cultural voices in British history Blake Remixed fuses together music and story telling with a live DJ. Made in collaboration with Scratch DJ world Champion DJ Woody, this is a coming of age story with a difference. Presented by West Yorkshire Playhouse, LittleMighty and Testament.
Latitude’s Faraway Forest provides a magical setting for experimental company Forest Fringe, who will present a diverse bill of new and specially commissioned work, including their very own Forest Fringe’s Poundshop of Earthly Delights, Hunt & Darton’s The Not Great British Bake Off and Set Menu (not for consumption) and Joe Wild’s The Joe Wild Sex Tapes. Rosana Cade & Eilidh McAskill will present Double Pussy Clit F*CK, and Dash Arts and Home Live Art will bring productions touching on this year’s theme For Richer, For Poorer, For Better, For Worse. Clean Break will present a new play in the back of a prison van, directed by Imogen Ashby and performed by women with experience of the criminal justice system, while Pentabus Theatre’s Red Sky at Night, Hannah Pierce’s The Little Match Girl and And Remember We Care’s Census will further mesmerise the crowd this year.
Also taking inspiration from the festival theme For Richer For Poorer, For Better For Worse, The Leeds Beckett School of Art, Architecture and Design will present a pop up of musical marriages in Wow Vows and The Flanagan Collective will bring Fable. Walrus Theatre will bring their performance of Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons in association with The National Student Drama Festival and The Roundhouse and Invisible Circus present a story of our world exploring what it is that we hold dear, fight for and live for. Part of this year’s festival theme, Clean Break graduate will perform a cycle of monologues exploring the experience of prison inside a static Prison Van, parked by the entrance of the Forest.
Newly added within the Faraway Forest last year, the Live Art House returns as an intimate performance space featuring the best in collaborative art and theatre, this year playing home to acclaimed Old Trunk’s production of Pramkicker, a production described by GQ as ‘twisted genius’. Sh!t Theatre explore the political, the personal and the down-right perverted in Women’s Hour, and Look Left Look Right and the Young Vic Taking Part department have been working with a group of individuals - male, female and trans - who identify themselves as sex workers to create a piece of performance about the sex industry.
On the Waterfront Stage, Sadler’s Wells, the UK’s leading dance house, will present a diverse programme of world class dance in all its forms. This year’s programme includes the National Youth Dance Company (NYDC), which consists of 38 talented young dancers (aged 15-19) from all over the country who perform a new dance work called Frame[d] created by internationally renowned contemporary dance choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. The company has established a reputation for innovative, high quality work that produces dancers that are open-minded, curious and brave. This year’s programme also includes Rambert, the national company for contemporary dance. Featuring some of the most distinctive and creative dancers working in Britain today, the company returns to Latitude with Christopher Bruce’s iconic production Rooster - a celebration of the swinging Sixties set to music by the Rolling Stones. Company Chameleon will bring their production of Beauty of the Beast, allowing the viewer to experience the art of dance whilst tackling challenging issues in inventive ways, using dance theatre as a vital method for social change and allowing the viewer access and inclusion
Latitude, GDIF, Lyric & Watford Palace Theatre present The Human Zoo this year in Pandora’s Playground. With a production of Monotone Man an explosive, interactive celebration of connection and colour. Seth Kriebel will provide the audience with the imagined and immersive theatre piece, The Unbuilt Room and each day at DanceEast will kick off with an invigorating Yoga class followed by a selection of high energy favourites such as Hip Hop delivered by Avant Garde Dance, Belly Dancing, Capoeira and Latitude specials Pop Party and DanceHouse Party.
Renowned for its riotous mix of parties, performance and live art, Latitude’s Cabaret Arena will once again host a selection of the UK’s most exciting and experimental artists and this year is no exception. This might be Latitude but there is no middle class here - just the super-rich and the super-poor. As the neo-liberal agenda continues to divide and cut our country up, Duckie takes on the haves, the have-nots and the have-yachts. Join the fat cats and the street urchins in a role-play, a dress up, a Tug of War and a few rounds of The Price is Right. From music hall to punk rock, penny gaffs to the fairground, gaudy variety to underground clubbing Duckie are purveyors of progressive working class entertainment who mix live art and light entertainment this year featuring Lucy McCormick, The Lipsinkrs, Jennifer Coleman, Cheryl Dole, Fabulous Russella with Disc Jockeys Readers Wifes, Dereck McCluckie and The Duckie DHSS All Stars.
There are drag queens and then there is Jonny Woo, The man who has come to personify the East London drag scene for over a decade. This year Jonny will bring the premiere of ‘A Night at the Musicals’ with Le Gateau Chocolat. Miss Behave’s Gameshow with special guests Captain Kidd, Fez Fanaana, Ivan Brackenbury, Raymond & Mr Timpkins and The Two Wrongies, will keep the Latitude audience on their toes. No one’s really sure what the rules are, except that there are some. If you get an answer right, she rewards, and if you misbehave, she punishes!
Other performances this year come from comedy mind reader, Doug Segal, An Audience with Dickie Beau and Musical Bingo, hosted by Suzannah Gonzo. Join Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho as she presents the most fabulous gameshow of all! On Yer Bike, The Maggie Thatcher Game Show! Iain Duncan Smith’s right: Britain’s lost its edge, the population are lazy, and people want money for nothing. Well, not anymore! Fresh from taking the Edinburgh Fringe and Leicester Square Theatre by storm former Prime Minister and global cabaret superstar Margaret Thatcher now has her sights set on light entertainment! Accompanied by her backing dancers Hessell and Tine and a filthy mouthed Winston Churchill she’ll put three comedians through their paces as they compete in an attempt to earn their giro cheque for the week. Mixing political satire with comedy, songs and truly ridiculous games, On Yer Bike is both a pisstake and a celebration of naff British game shows of the 70s.
The hilarious ex-con Dianne Chorley will delight the Latitude audience with tales of love and loss, Scottee presents a right knees up with his show Party Piece. Bourgeois and Maurice will merge bitingly witty original songs with libellous gossip, social commentary and a truly astonishing collection of outfits.
Published on 23 April 2015 by Ben Robinson
