With the nation’s leading theatre companies all bringing exciting productions to The Latitide Festival each year, Latitude’s Theatre Arena has developed into a top performing arts festival. This year the organisers are excited to announce the following names for the Theatre Arena.

Performing exciting and cutting edge original works this is National Theatre of Scotland's first visit to Latitude; the award-winning, nationally and internationally renowned The Opera Group; 1927 presents ‘The Animals and Children Took To The Streets’ a stunning synthesis of live music, animation and stage performance; theatre ensemble Curious Directive present 'Exoplanets' based on Holst's 'The Planets' suite – a sweeping piece of 21st Century dance theatre comprising of a DJ, composer, choreographer, astronomer (Professor Martin Hendry) and seven dancers, all under a glorious moonlit sky which will be followed by Stargazing Workshops on The Waterfront Stage; Black Roses presents ‘The Killing of Sophie Lancaster’, a drama-documentary in which the murder of teenager Sophie Lancaster is told through a series of emotional poems written by Simon Armitage and the reminiscence of her mother Sylvia; and JAssociate Director of the National Theatre Scotland, John Tiffany, joins the Literary Salon for a fascinating talk on the performing arts industry. In ‘Can We Keep Up? Theatre’s Incredible Ability To Evolve’.

One of the most diverse and cutting edge elements to Latitude’s repertoire, the Film & Music Arena offers audiences mesmerising displays, performances and viewings of fantastic cinema and music, don't miss Tate Britain in collaboration with Nigel Barrett and Louise Mari from Shunt will lead a three hour audio-visual feast inspired by Tate Britain’s Watercolour exhibition, Alexander Ebert's (he of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros fame) stunning solo performance along with a striking, modern take on vaudeville or music hall traditions featuring dancing, music, poetry and drama in the form of The Cats Meet Show.

Bringing together today’s most illustrious wordsmiths; the Literary Arena is a hub of storytelling, book discussions, lively debates and in-depth interviews. Author and Columnist Julie Myerson will read at Latitude , Diana Athill reads from ‘Life Class – ‘The Selected Memoirs Of Diana Athill’, Robin Ince presents Double Science which is new for Latitude, a huge helping of guest speakers in a series of three science hours hosted by the comedian along with Dr. Adam Rutherford, Matt Parker, Ben Goldacre, Helen Keen and Helen Arney; New York Times columnist Arianne Cohen joins us at Latitude with ‘The Sex Diaries Project’ whilst Miles Irving will explain how to recognise the rich possibilities around us in The Forager Handbook.

Comedy comes from the likes of Adam Buxton, Lucy Porter, Simon Munnery, Steve Hughes, Nathan Caton, Carl Donnelly, Shaun Keaveny, Carly Smallman, Toby, Rob Beckett, Tom Deacon, Isy Suttie, Elis James and SPANK!

A veritable feast of vaudeville fun and mischief, the Cabaret Arena will host Duckie, The Razzle, Tina C, Ida Barr, Rubberbandits, Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, Ovid's Metamorphoses and The Big Bingo Show.Found on the bank of the lake and larger than ever, the celebrated Poetry Arena will see Serafina Streer, Simon Barraclough, Alex Gwyther, Tom Warner, Thick Richard, Hollie McNish, Caroline Bird and Ventriloquist all perform.

The fairytale Faraway Forest will feature, Les Enfants Terribles, Rachel Rose Reid & The Roundhouse Experimental Choir, Native Faces and City Shanty Band.Pandora's Playground is a quirky corner of the Latitude site and this year will host ‘Bathe’ – a work in progress – has seen Jess, co-founder of Made In China spending hours submerged in cold powdered milk jibbering about drowning, being buried alive, bird-skulls, priests doing operations and babies with their mouths stitched up and also 'The Red Balloon' from String Theatre.

The live show of Joel Stickley's 'How To Write Badly Well' is part writing seminar, part multimedia comedy show and entirely necessary if you want to become the cream of the crap when it comes to purple prose. Come along and take the first step towards becoming the next Dan Brown.

Tickets available from :

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