Having enjoyed at least 24 hours of relatively good weather, the heavens opened once again this morning setting the scene for a soggy final day. But the conditions bring with them certain advantages - most notably that crowds tend to dive into the nearest tent and experience acts that wouldn’t normally be on their agenda.

Directly after the madness that was Grace Jones (hats off to anyone who can huluhoop for 10 minutes straight while singing the finale to a rainsoaked headline festival set) I fought my way in amongst the swarming masses to see the RSC’s Latitude show, Here Lies Mary Spindler. The fire-safety officers would have had a field day had they seen the number of people squeezed into the theatre arena - I enjoyed the show from a small patch of grass behind a pillar, my face and knee pressed against a wooden pew, my body twisted to allow room for all the other people who hadn’t made it to the banked seating. This show was certainly hyped; fortunately it didn’t fail to deliver. (more…)

Yesterday evening, in a conversation marred only by its proximity to the loos, I heard from Kirsten Turner, stage manager for Nabokov theatre company, about the four shows they’ve been doing across the festival site this weekend.

Nabokov are keeping you pretty busy this weekend; tell me about the shows. 

We’ve got four shows here: Is Everyone OK?, which is by Joel Horwood, which is about a group of 30-somethings going through a mid-life crisis, all monologues and duologues; (more…)

Just emerged blinking into the evening sun after a marathon session in the Theatre Arena. Started off with Osip Theatre’s Stab in the Dark, a series of interlaced monologues on the subject of losing your virginity. Nicely performed by the company (fighting against a strange and penetrating growling noise coming from the tent next door!), if a little predictable. (more…)

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

[Show as slideshow]

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…)