03 March 2016
Ana Stanescu
Celebrating the biggest names in comedy, theatre, dance, film, cabaret, literature and performance; the UK’s finest multi-arts festival returns for its 11th Edition promising an unrivalled breadth, depth and quality of arts programming, offering a spectacular choice of major shows, star acts and ground-breaking commissioned works.
At the Latitude 2016 Theatre Breakfast in Soho House, there was a chance to speak to artistic directors, performers and Latitude’s Arts Curator Tania Harrison. She told Theatre-News.com “In times where I’m not really sure whether I believe what I’m told in the news anymore, what the government are saying anymore, I think that theatre has never been more important. Theatre can make the political personal, the personal political, it can give a small voice a megaphone, theatre can speak to us in many many different languages and it’s with those thoughts in mind that, this year’s theme is Love Thy Neighbour, which I don’t think in the current climate it could be anything else.”
We live in tumultuous times where erratic displacement of humans has become the subject of politicised point-scoring leading to acceptable xenophobic rhetoric inevitably influencing far too many people. The human side is left desolate and abandoned to an almost pathological level. Tania Harrison seeks to redress the balance in a truly wondrous fashion not least by choosing to open the theatre arena with the stunning Australian contemporary circus company Circa, with their genre-defying show Il Ritorno exploring themes of displacement and refugeeism.
The line-up is spectacular, original and thought provoking and there are more works in progress than any other year, which shows a huge generosity of spirit both towards the acts and the audience.
Not forgetting this is a mainstream festival, Tania goes on to say “Wherever you’re from and whatever you do, it’s about how we connect and who we connect with and that’s one of the brilliant things about festivals. It’s one of those few places where you can be in a field, you could be watching a show, a gig and just think this is brilliant, I really really love this, don’t you? The first thing is not ‘What do you do then?”
Tania Harrison is my new hero. Who doesn’t want to occasionally get drunk in a field, talk to strangers and appreciate the wonderful thing you've just seen without having to explain to them you’re a depressive underachiever with some very disappointed immigrant parents.
Full Line-up below:
THURSDAY 14TH JULY – SUNDAY 17TH JULY
HENHAM PARK, SOUTHWOLD, SUFFOLK
OBELISK ARENA
THE MACCABEES | THE NATIONAL | NEW ORDER
BEIRUT | CHVRCHES | M83 | FATHER JOHN MISTY
JOHN GRANT | THE LUMINEERS
COURTNEY BARNETT | DAUGHTER | CHET FAKER
BRITISH SEA POWER | SQUEEZE | LAURA MVULA
NATHANIEL RATELIFF & THE NIGHT SWEATS | MICHAEL KIWANUKA
STURGILL SIMPSON | ALIF
BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC STAGE
GRIMES | OF MONSTERS AND MEN
MIIKE SNOW | KURT VILE AND THE VIOLATORS | FRIGHTENED RABBIT
HALF MOON RUN | MØ | CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS | POLIÇA | LÅPSLEY
ROOTS MANUVA | PERFUME GENIUS | OH WONDER
JAMIE WOON | RAT BOY | AURORA | MURA MASA | LUCIUS
SUNRISE ARENA
PANTHA DU PRINCE presents THE TRIAD | BLACK MOUNTAIN
ANNA MEREDITH | BLANCK MASS | BOB MOSES | CLOVES
DRONES CLUB | HAYDEN JAMES | HIGHASAKITE | HOLLY MACVE
KELLY LEE OWENS | LAMBERT | LITTLE GREEN CARS
MONEY | PROTOMARTYR | SUUNS | WEAVES
LATE NIGHT AT SUNRISE
JUNGLE (DJ SET) | DAVID RODIGAN (A JOURNEY THROUGH REGGAE)
MARLON WILLIAMS | MIKE SKINNER and MURKAGE present TONGA
POETRY
DON PATERSON | JOHN HEGLEY | HOLLIE McNISH
ELAINE FEINSTEIN | HENRY NORMAL
MICHAEL PEDERSEN |BUDDY WAKEFIELD | LUKE WRIGHT
ATTILA THE STOCKBROKER | MARK GRIST & TIM CLARE
TIM WELLS | MARTIN NEWELL & THE HOSEPIPE BAND
JOHN OSBORNE | BENIN CITY | JOSH IDEHEN | HELEN MORT
FRANKIE VAH | TALIA RANDALL
HARRY BAKER | DEREK McLUCKIE | ROSY CARRICK
THEATRE
CIRCA | IMPROBABLE & BLIND SUMMIT | GOB SQUAD
GLEN NEATH & DAVID ROSENBERG | LIFT present EVERYTHING BY MY SIDE
LYRIC | OPERA NORTH | MARK THOMAS | GRAEAE
LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES | ACTION TO THE WORD | AIRNADETTE
LYRIC, GDIF, IMAGINE WATFORD & LATITUDE present HIKAPEE and HOW IT ENDED
YOUNG VIC & ROYAL COURT | FOREST FRINGE | DASH ARTS | FIGHT IN THE DOG
SHON DALE-JONES | SAM HALMARACK, DAN CANHAM & OLIVIA WINTERINGHAM
SH!T THEATRE |URSULA MARTINEZ| CHRISTOPHER BRETT BAILEY | NABOKOV | RAZ
SLEEPING TREES | TIATA FAHODZI | LIAM WILLIAMS | PENTABUS |THE PAPER BIRDS
KATIE BONNA |GEORGE EGG | JEMIMA FOXTROT | LUCY MCCORMICK | ROB AUTON
RACHAEL CLERKE |FLIPPING THE BIRD | POLEROID THEATRE | OLD TRUNK THEATRE
LICENSED TO ILL| STEFANIE MUELLER | ANNIE SIDDONS | SILENT UPROAR
DEANNA RODGER & GEMMA ROGERS | ARWC | LEEDS BECKETT
LAVISH BIG SCREEN
GLEN MATLOCK | STEPHEN MALLINDER | DON LETTS
NATIONAL STUDENTS SELECTION | DJ HARRY K | JET LETTS
PLUS MANY MORE NAMES TO BE ANNOUNCED…
