Theatre News

Latitude Announces More Theatre for 2010 Festival

Latitude Festival will be celebrating its fifth birthday in style this summer with the premiere of a newly commissioned collaboration between Sean Holmes, new artistic director of the Lyric Hammersmith, and Filter Theatre Company.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream will follow the success of their recent joint production of Three Sisters and is the latest addition to the festival’s theatre programme, after the announcement of 2010 headliners the RSC and Royal Opera House (See News, 11 Mar 2010).

The award-winning Theatre503, Forest Fringe and Factory will also be performing at the three day event, it was announced today, further swelling a bill that will see a mix of new and established names flying the festival’s theatre flag.

Theatre503 will be bringing two works onsite after winning Best Play at last week’s Olivier Awards for The Mountaintop. PLAYList invites ten writers to create a play inspired by a piece of music, lasting only as long as the track itself, while The Epic is a new play about the unknown and unexplained, commissioned especially for the festival.

Latitude favourites Factory will be back with Round 2, a collection of short plays cast in the company’s characteristic manner – on the day and by the audience. And Forest Fringe, better known for its work at the Edinburgh Festival, will be heading out on the road with two of its recent audio treats: Motor Vehicle Sundown and the Travelling Sounds Library. The first is a self-contained installation for two people in a parked car, while the latter is a series of hollowed out books each containing a mp3 player stocked with recordings by some of the Forest Fringe’s most exciting collaborators.

The Theatre Tent is one of more than ten arenas and tents at the three day event in Henham Park in Southwold, Suffolk. New additions to the bill elsewhere onsite include Showstopper! The Improvised Musical in the Caberet Tent, the hugely popular London show that does exactly what it says on the tin. And bringing together music, comedy, theatre and cartoons the Lyric are also producing The Island, featuring The London Snorkelling Team and performers Will Adamsdale and Ed Gaughan. Further bill announcements are expected in the run-up to the festival itself.

More details of the line-up can be found at latitudefestival.co.uk