Photographer Ben Westaway has been snapping photos of Latitude 2009 for Whatsonstage.com. Here’s a selection…

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I bumped into actor Hywel John from Osip Theatre over breakfast in the performers’ area this morning. Here’s what he has to say about their show, A Stab in the Dark.

So what’s the show about?

It’s a verbatim piece; the script has been edited out of interviews with five real people talking about their experiences of losing their virginity. Hence the title: A Stab in the Dark. (more…)

This is the latest project from the Bush to premiere at Latitude, following their successful showing at last year’s festival with the similarly themed 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover. Ralf Little starred last time round, and his Two Pints of Lager co-star Kathryn Drysdale is among the four-strong ensemble this year.

suddenlossofdignity.com constitutes an hour of sketches based on testimonies submitted by members of the public to a website - the idea is that for every embarrassing story submitted they get two back in return by way of ‘compensation’. (more…)

An interesting couple of hours in the Theatre Arena, which is already running nearly an hour behind schedule (I ran into a friend who’s performing with Tristan Bates Theatre in the late slot and they weren’t on until after 2am last night!).

Paines Plough, now a Latitude staple, are this year presenting Traces, written by six young writers on its Future Perfect scheme for nurturing new talent. Loosely held together by the story of Liane, a celebrity haunted by the suicide of her father, it takes place over the course of a day as we encounter, through a series of short scenes, a collection of disparate characters facing various emotional blockages.

Although at times the dialogue sounds like that of a bad soap opera, there are definite traces of talent here. The young cast work confidently with material that isn’t in truth well suited to the noisy environs of Latitude. Intitmate character studies never do tend to work well in large tented arenas, particularly with the distant thuds of the music stage drifting through the trees. But nevertheless, some touch and also laugh-out-loud moments (mostly supplied by a wannabe goth character) ensured the company could leave the stage with heads held high. (more…)

Here Tessa Walker tells me about Traces and all the exciting things she wants to see here at Latitude.

What’s the play about?

It’s a show that has been written by six writers collaborating on one piece. They’re six writers who are on attachment to us for a year; they’re emerging writers. It’s a piece about the day in the life of one girl and how her actions affect a whole host of people for much longer than that day. (more…)

I caught up with NSDF director Holly Kendrick backstage at the Theatre Arena, immediately after the ensemble finished their second and final performance of Touched.  

Tell me about Touched?

It’s a play about young people who’ve grown up in Leeds then go their separate ways, and what happens when you try and piece all those lives back together. (more…)

Strolling past the Greenpeace tent, I saw Vicky Jones, co-artistic director (with Phoebe Waller-Bridge) of new writing company DryWrite (www.drywrite.com) leading rehearsals for their afternoon performance of DryFight, featuring new commissions by writers including Joe Penhall…

Why Latitude?

It’s got everything - theatre, literature, you name it, it’s here. You could just focus on one element of it and it would be fulfilling, but to take in everything is just an amazing (more…)

When the English Stage Company at the Royal Court celebrated its fiftieth anniversary three years ago, The Rocky Horror Show was voted the audience favourite ahead of anything by John Osborne, Edward Bond or David Storey.

This must have surprised anyone who thought that the Rocky Horror Show was a cult film that sometimes crops up on the toruing circuit and indeed the West End, not to mention all over the world.

Now the original Rocky, Rayner Bourton, has told the whole story from auditions and rehearsals through to opening night in the Theatre Upstairs at 10.30pm on 19th June 1973. And I was there!

I wasn’t reviewing that night, but accompanying a Financial Times colleague, Garry O’Connor, who was. We had spent the first part of the evening watching Ian Holm and Coral Browne in Bond’s The Sea downstairs on the main stage.

(more…)

Arrived last night at 10pm- just at the point the heavens opened and lighting started flashing across the sky. Heard distant screams from the festival area so went over to investigate (thank god I stopped at b&q to buy wellies on the drive up). Found swarms of teenagers partying in the woods, dancing to the tunes of a stoic dj and treating each bolt of lightning like the arrival of a new band on stage.

Eventually made it to the literature tent, where Luke Roberts was keeping a packed house amused with leftfield literary one-liners (eg ‘moral of the fox and the stork- don’t rub foxes in butter). (more…)