Latitude Festival 2017 Invites Theatre Line Up To Join The Revolution
By: BWW News Desk May. 08, 2017
Latitude's Curator of the Arts, Tania Harrison says "As we launch the Latitude Theatre programme, I'm delighted to share this summer's festival theme, Come The Revolution. I have invited artists and companies to explore the idea of revolution, from historical social changes to the injustices in our society today; to foster an empowered, revolutionary spirit in our audience. This theme is at the heart of our theatre programme, and emergent and established theatre makers from the UK, Europe, America and Australia, are asking the important questions.
Notes of a Native Song tells the story of James Baldwin's life, work, and influence on Stew, while Hot Brown Honey is equal parts theatre and social activism. We're looking at gender politics with The Royal Court Theatre's Manwatching, 201 Dance Company's Skin, and Holly Blakey challenging the hyper-sexualised language and dance of the music video. Dickie Beau's Fruits of the Forest and Desmond O'Connor present shows that mark the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality.
Across the festival our bill showcases theatre in its most exciting guises. Fuel's Clod Ensemble come to the Theatre Arena, and Cirk La Putyka present the international premiere of Batacchio. In The Cabaret Theatre, gig-theatre takes centre stage as theatre meets live music, and stories are given new energy. In our shape-shifting Faraway Forest, theatre escapes the black box and brings revolution in both spirit and format. Experience immersive sound-scapes from Opera North; ethereal voices sounding between the trees, plus pop-up Live Art performances in every corner of the forest, appearing when you least expect them. We're delighted to welcome Sadler's Wells back to our Waterfront dance stage, which will host an array of genres, from ballet to contemporary dance to hip-hop. And these are just a few of the magical moments across the festival site this summer; with much more on the bill, there's something special in the Theatre and Dance bill for everyone, and every taste, to discover."
Latitude will welcome Black Honey Company to the Theatre stage on Thursday and Friday who promise to bring the temperature to fever pitch with their production of Hot Brown Honey. The show combines the 1920s glamour of Josephine Baker with the hyper-aesthetics of global hip-hop culture and the hot punch of black politics to create a stereotype-smashing show. Hosted by the sumptuous Candy B with music by Busty Beatz and costumes to rival Beyoncé at Madison Square Garden, Hot Brown Honey is a fusion of dance, poetry, comedy, circus strip-tease and song which celebrates our differences as well as our similarities and is guaranteed to get Latitude fighting the power.
Latitude will host the UK Premiere of The Negro Problem's Notes on a Native Song which will arrive in Suffolk following a sell-out run in New York. Led by singer-songwriter Stew, the show is a rock and roll concert which uses the enduring legacy of James Baldwin to produce a crackling commentary on Trump's America. Another timely piece, Notes on a Native Song draws on the political potency of the Black Lives Matter movement as well as reaffirming the importance of Baldwin's life and work.
Drawing inspiration from the poetics of ancient theatre companies, contemporary circus collective Cirk La Putyka will present the international premiere of Batacchio on the Theatre stage. Made up of seven acrobats and actors, Batacchio is an original fusion of contemporary circus, magic tricks and humour.
The Old Vic London in association with Fane Productions will bring Charlie Fink, famed for his work with Noah & The Whale, to Latitude with modern day folk tale Cover My Tracks. With a book by David Greig and direction by Max Webster, theatre and music interweave to tell the story of an idealistic young songwriter who sets out to write a 21st Century pop masterpiece before vanishing without a trace. The first track which will feature in the performance will be Firecracker which can be viewed here.
Edinburgh's Traverse will present Gary McNair's Locker Room Talk; a verbatim theatre piece inspired by Donald Trump's dismissal of controversial comments made during his presidential campaign as 'locker room talk', and directed by Traverse Artistic Director, Orla O'Loughlin. To produce Locker Room Talk, Gary McNair spoke with men about women to explore this attitude, with the words of the men he interviewed being performed by a cast of women. Locker Room Talk will be followed by a discussion with psychologist Dr Nina Burrowes. McNair said, "I am really excited to be able to present Locker Room Talk at Latitude - it is, in my opinion, the coolest music festival in the UK, one that really has its act together in offering multi-arts alongside the big name bands. Some of the biggest theatres in the UK are sharing work there and it is a pleasure to represent the Traverse alongside them. Having performed there in 2011 I've been really keen to get back since, so I'm delighted that we can be there."
Fuel's Clod Ensemble will make their Latitude debut with a first glimpse of their visually captivating show On the High Road which features the company's characteristic interdisciplinary approach to theatre. Conjuring a feverish end-of-epoch atmosphere, On the High Road is a gripping, vivid piece of theatre, where powerful themes of migration, difference and intolerance are never far away.
London's Royal Court Theatre will bring Manwatching to Latitude following a sell-out run at Jerwood Theatre Upstairs. Manwatching is a funny, frank and occasionally explicit insight into heterosexual female desire. The show begins with a male comedian being given a script they've never seen which they recite for the first time ever in front of a live audience. The unsuspecting comedian for this very special performance of Manwatching will be Seann Walsh.
Meditating on memory will be award-winning performer and lip-syncer Dickie Beau with his show Re-Member Me. This part-documentary theatre and part-séance to 're-member' the ghosts of Hamlet past, Dickie Beau transforms himself into a human Hamlet mix-tape in this ode to the impermanence of personhood and procrastination. Dickie Beau will also be appearing in Latitude's magical Faraway Forest with Fruits of the Forest.
Evocative animator Paul Barritt will bring his new production Cat and Mouse to the Theatre stage this summer. Well-known for his work with 1927 and their West End hit Golem; Cat and Mouse is an animation adventure featuring big screen cartoons and a rock 'n' roll band which follows the familiar dichotomy of anthropomorphic foes.
Theatre RE's The Nature of Forgetting is inspired by the work of theatre director Tadeusz Kantor. Focused on recent neurobiological research and interviews with people living with dementia, The Nature of Forgetting is a powerful, haunting and beautiful theatre piece about the inability to recollect a life and what is left when memory is gone.
Latitude welcomes Shôn Dale-Jones in Me and Robin Hood; the latest Hoipolloi show about Shôn's on-going relationship with Mr Robin Hood. Shôn first met Robin as a seven-year-old boy in November 1975, and since then he has been his best-ever fictional friend. As the divide between the rich and poor grows larger, Me and Robin Hood shows the dangerous effects of splitting the world into the wealthy and those living in poverty.
After an acclaimed international tour of their debut show Smother, 201 Dance Company will showcase their hip-hop aesthetic with Skin; an intimate journey of self-discovery which explores one boy's journey through gender transition, with the strong cast of seven performers exploring what is and isn't our body.
Following the huge success of Latitude's co-production With A Little Bit of Luck last year, the festival welcomes the new wave of gig theatre makers to Henham Park. Following their acclaimed production Letters to Windsor House, which wittily explored the housing crisis in London, Sh!t Theatre will return to Latitude with their new work DollyWould. Built on their mutual adoration of Dolly Parton, DollyWould is a riotous and challenging piece on the iconic image of the world's most famous country singer.
Nabokov and Benin City will team up in Latitude's The Cabaret Theatre for Last Night, an oral history of London's rapidly disappearing nightlife featuring live music, poetry and audio interviews with those who danced the night away in the city's most famous haunts. Directed by Stef O'Driscoll (With A Little Bit of Luck), Last Night is a rhythmic, brass-flavoured snapshot of a city's fading scene.
Hull's most exciting theatre company Middle Child will present their epic gig-theatre show, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything in The Cabaret Theatre. From Cool Britannia, to Broken Britain and Brexit Britain, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything follows two kids from Hull raised on Harry Potter, New Labour and a belief that they would be as special as their parents promised. Focusing on what happens when our expectations don't match reality, Middle Child's latest production features an original soundtrack inspired by the best British music from the last three decades.
Palmyra invites the Latitude audience to step back from the news, to take a wider view and reflect on what goes on in the Middle East so that we may be able to see things differently. Presented by Bristol Ferment, Palmyra is a new show by Betrand Lesca and Nasi Voutsas who are pioneers in innovative theatre which explores the relationship between live music and the stage.
High Rise will take festival-goers to 2020 with their grime concept concert Merryville. Fast-forwarding three years to the UK's withdrawal from the EU and a coalition between the Conservatives and UKIP, the streets of London are in turmoil and two rappers find themselves in the last 'affordable' housing block in London. Dissecting the realpolitik of the past decade through MP rap battles and tactics for revolution, Merryville is an honest account of what it means to be a Londoner when the housing crisis and dodgy politics force people out of the capital.
Suck. Nip. Tuck. Spiralize. Blend. Repeat. Hear Me Raw is a new one-woman show by Daniella Isaacs. Brought to Latitude's The Cabaret Theatre by the producers of Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho and the creators of Mush and Me, Hear Me Raw is a candid account of a twenty-something's journey through the wellness world.
Gagglebabble, The Other Room and Theatr Clwyd will join forces in The Cabaret Theatre with an invitation to Sinners' Club. Based on the life of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in the UK, the live recording of this concept album promises songs inspired by Ruth's short life washed down with a cocktail of stories about souls lost to sin.
London's Ovalhouse will come to Latitude with The Believers Are But Brothers. Writer and theatre maker Javaad Alipoor spent time in this digital realm, exploring the blurry and complex world of extremists, spies, journalists and fantasists. This bold one-man show weaves together their stories in an exploration of the present crisis of masculinity.
Alternative Miss World Fancy Chance will perform her debut solo show Flights of Fancy. Taking festival-goers from Fancy Chance's humble origins as a Korean refugee, to becoming the darling of the London cabaret scene, Flights of Fancy contains offbeat comedy, original songs and outrageous film. Joining her in The Cabaret Theatre will be Vanessa Kisuule with Sexy which presents a conflicted woman who loves poetry, smashing the patriarchy with a well-timed slut-drop.
Mark Thomas will return to Latitude in The Speakeasy with his new work-in-progress, Predictable. Following his heart-shattering Red Shed, which won acclaim across the UK for its wit and politicAl Anger, Predictable will question the Latitude audience about what they think the future holds. A perfect piece for the turbulence of 2017, Mark Will draw on these answers to create a fantastical, hilarious, and perhaps accurate portrait of what our world could look like.
Daniel Bye will take up residence in The Speakeasy with his new political thriller Safe House. Following a series of interconnected stories, small corners of Britain declare their independence, and complete with live audience interaction Daniel Bye's unmissable new show should be as unstable as the world it portrays.
Following the multi-award-winning What I Learned From Johnny Bevan; performance poet for a disenfranchised generation Luke Wright will present his new piece Frankie Vah in The Speakeasy. Luke's second verse play deals with love, loss and belief against the scuzzy backdrop of indie venues and 80s politics with a Morrissey-sized measure of heartache.
Joining the already announced Opera North's Underworld in the Faraway Forest will be Dash Arts with Dacha. An ever-changing performance venue modelled on the iconic Russian country house, Dacha will return to Latitude exploring life in the summer of 1917 through films, dressing up, board games, political discussions and late night DJs.
Arbonauts will perform The Soaring Sky in the Faraway Forest; a choral multi-sensory experience of live voices inspired by the song of birds, fitting suitably with the forest setting. Singers will take audiences on a reflective journey through a timeless changing landscape between dunes, sea and sky, with a choral score composed by Louise Drewett and Alex Nikiporenko.
The Faraway Forest also welcomes powerhouse new writing company Paines Plough with their nationwide project Come to Where I'm From. Since 2010, more than 100 playwrights have taken part creating a vivid patchwork quilt of accents, experiences and impressions of the UK. We've collected all these plays in a giant interactive map of the UK right here at Latitude. Pop on some headphones and discover somewhere new with a tour guide with a difference.
Forest Fringe returns to Latitude and takes up residency in the Faraway Forest, featuring some of the UK's most innovative and witty performance artists. Appearances will come from Alexandrina Helmsley, Andy Field, Daniel Olver, Afreenz Azaria, Jack Marcus Ellis, Femme Feral, French and Mottershead, Low Stakes, Simone Simone and Eros, Catherine Hoffman and Florence Peake, Simone Kenyan and Neil Callaghan and Verity Standen.
Joining Forest Fringe in the Faraway Forest will be Unlimited Theatre with How I Hacked My Way Into Space, Richard Dedomenici with The Live Art Tent of Ill Repute and SBC Theatre and Leeds Beckett who will stage Stand and Be Counted; their exploration and celebration of youth, protest and activism.
Holly Blakey will bring her emotionally charged dance piece Some Greater Class to the Waterfront Stage. An exploration into the hyper-sexualised language of music videos and dynamics of contemporary pop culture, dancers writhe and contract with explosive energy in a modern day Garden of Eden. Created in collaboration by musicians Gwilym Gold and Darkstar, the live performance lays bare the complexities of voyeurism and the normative ideals promoted in mainstream pop culture.
Written by Writer's Guild award winner Philip Osment, the Welcome Trust Arena will welcome Hearing Things, a provocative and moving new drama exploring the dilemmas of psychiatry from the points of view of patients, relatives and staff.
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