Latitude have announced a whole new tranche of entertainment all headed for Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk, on 17-20th July

Theatre Arena
Working towards a greener festival and with help from London’s Arcola Theatre, this year the Theatre Arena at Latitude is to be entirely fuel cell powered. It will be an area positively buzzing with creativity and inspiration, hosting a wealth of bespoke productions and performances exclusive to the festival, some of the biggest names in contemporary, physical, classical, performance and local theatre are coming to the Suffolk coast.

The National Theatre will be bringing a play chosen from their New Connections project to Latitude Festival - an ambitious new writing programme for young actors creating theatre. Established 15 years ago in response to a widespread demand for challenging new plays for young people to perform, the National Theatre New Connections commissions 10 new plays every year, penned by some of the hottest talent in world theatre. The plays are then brought to life through hundreds of productions, created by thousands of young actors, technicians, designers and directors, from across the UK, Ireland and further afield. This year’s writers are: Moira Buffini, Frantic Assembly & Bryony Lavery, Anna Furse & Little Angel, Abi Morgan, Mark Ravenhill, Peter Tabern, Jack Thorne, Timberlake Wertenbaker, Nigel Williams and Nicholas Wright.

Probably the most famous classical theatre company in the world, the Royal Shakespeare Company, brings to Latitude a selection of specially commissioned mini epic plays. These new works take the form of a series of 5 minute works of concentrated energy, passion and vibrancy. Each penned by a different writer, the writers, directors and actors will fearlessly wade in to investigate the wildest topics and areas of thought, each of the plays taking on a handful of essential classical themes including love - war –competitive insults – music – kings – queens – paupers – harlots – religious types – ruptured families – heartbreak – mistaken identities – journeys – shipwrecks – cross dressing – ghosts – fools. This new commission is an enlightening introduction to anyone who thought the RSC was only about preserving Shakespeare. Be prepared to be very surprised!

Walter Raleigh’s School Of Night was a clandestine and arcane underground sect of artists, thinkers, writers, scientists and spies, who some scholars believe wrote Shakespeare's plays. Now, maverick genius Ken Campbell and his team revive the School of Night for the 21st century, improvising plays and poems from any period, always in pursuit of their first secret commission. The School of Night has been known to explore Elizabethan humours by performing them in modern styles, and examine great acting via master classes on gastromancy. Audience members may have impromptu sonnets created for them or be taught "the secrets of crowd scenes". The show mixes Ken’s unique and infamous surreal monologues with a team of highly skilled improvisers capable of playing in any theatrical style and keen to rise to any challenge.

The award-winning nationally and internationally renowned touring theatre company, Paines Plough and the new writing theatre company nabokov, present  the brilliantly buzzy Crazy Love by Che Walker. A blast of fresh air, this 50 minute play is set at a wedding reception. The bride is Billie (Phoebe Whyte), a posh Notting Hill trustafarian about to marry one of her own. But with the help of her bridesmaids - Cordelia (Julia Sandiford) and Shiv (Suzie McGrath) - she recounts the period leading up to the wedding as a Bonnie-and-Clyde-style adventure with a man from the wrong side of the west London tracks. Paines Plough specialise exclusively in commissioning and developing contemporary playwrights and the production of their work on stage. nabokov is dedicated to commissioning, developing and producing backlash theatre - new work for the stage that offers an antagonistic response to contemporary agendas, trends and events.

The Operating Theatre Company, a network dedicated to the development of new writing for theatre, brings ‘I’m a Minger!’, to Latitude. Written and performed by Alex Jones, Jones plays his own 15-year old daughter, complete with pram-face and wig. ‘I’m a Minger!’ is a funny journey through the mind of a 15-year old girl – full of fizz, jokes and bittersweet rites-of-passage.

The Theatre Arena will host an enormous selection of stunning plays and shows from Royal Court Theatre, The Bush, Picks of the Pleasance plus so much more.

Comedy Arena
Latitude’s ever popular Comedy Arena is now complete with a larger tent and big screens to ensure you don’t miss a gag. A good job too as the spectacular array of talent taking to the stage continues to grow and grow as Latitude announces four more brilliant performers to the jaw-dropping (or jaw-aching!) line up.

After appearing in every episode of BBC2’s ‘Mock The Week’ and regular appearances on ‘8 Out of 10 Cats’, Frankie Boyle has finely honed his cynical critique of society, celebrities and Politicians. With observations such as, if John Prescott were to wear a belt and tie at the same time he would “turn into sausages”; there is little that escapes Boyles’s keen scrutiny. After breaking through in 1996 when he won the Daily Telegraph Open Mic Award, Boyle has gone from strength to strength and is notorious for his witty tongue-in-cheek comments and his glass half-empty views on modern day society and culture.

Time Out winner, Robin Ince, will be continuing the laughter in the Comedy Arena. The hyperkinetic curmudgeon who questions everything or thereabouts, with a stage style that tends to lean towards erudite ramblings, often at break-neck speed Ince is also an adept impressionist. Often seen supporting Ricky Gervais on his live dates, Ince has a long list of television appearances including appearing in ‘The Office’ and ‘Mock The Week’ and was named best compere at the 2007 Chortle Awards.

Best known for his work on BAFTA winning ‘The Sketch Show’ and RTS award winning BBC sitcom ‘Not Going Out’, the “always cheeky, never blue” Lee Mack joins the line up. With his constant determination to have fun, with high energy, and at a fast pace, Mack jumps quickly and confidently from one hilarious subject to another, leaving the audience on the edge of their seat if not on the floor. Mack has had a stint presenting ‘They Think It’s All Over’ and is now a regular on BBC panel show ‘Would I Lie to You’ with his constant determination to have fun that often leaves his audience overwhelmed by laughter.

One of the most respected figures of British comedy Stewart Lee, who modestly prides himself as being the “41st Best Stand-up Ever”, has written for radio, television, newspapers, magazines in addition to penning his novel, ‘The Perfect Fool’. He has taken his comedy stylings all over the world and co-wrote and directed the groundbreaking and critically acclaimed London theatre production ‘Jerry Springer-The Opera’. In addition, Stewart directed The Mighty Boosh's breakthrough Edinburgh Festival show, Arctic Boosh, in 1999. Lee has been likened to “an angry young man trapped in the body of a mature and hugely intelligent one”, a hilariously lethal combo that will disarm the audience and have them laughing uncontrollably. 

Once described as “a twisted human cartoon”, Russell Kane will stalk, flap, jerk and contort his way across the stage of the Comedy Arena at this year’s Latitude. Having burst onto the scene in 2003, it wasn’t long before Kane was earning accolades up and down the country for his turbo-charged routine and TV appearances including a stint hosting ‘Big Brother’s Big Mouth’ in 2007. With a boundless energy and an ability to tease, prod and affectionately bounce off the audience,  Kane will have the Comedy Arena wrapped around his little finger. 

The super slick, finely executed delivery of Arnab Chanda’s stand-up routine owes much of its smooth polish to Chanda’s four years of hard graft in the comedy clubs of New York. Born in England, brought up in an international school in Saudi Arabia, Chanda muses over such topics as the dangers of getting the chick-pea dip Humous, and a certain group of Palestinian freedom fighters mixed up. Hotly tipped, Chanda is one to keep your eye on.

The quick witted and almost debonair, Rufus Hound and his beard, will be joining the fantastic Comedy Arena line-up. You may recognise him from various TV appearances including presenting Top of The Pops and Glastonbury coverage in 2005. Hound was a finalist at Channel 4’s Edinburgh Festival Award ‘So You Think You’re Funny’ with his sharp, sarcastic and relaxed approach to comedy earning him plenty of fans.

They will be joining a wealth of incredible comedic talent available at this year’s festival including the comic genius of Bill Bailey, Ross Noble, Rich Hall, Simon Amstell, Russell Howard and Phill Jupitus and friends.

Music & Film Arena
Enter the mind-bending world of sight and sound at Latitude’s hub of sensory stimulation, the legendary Music & Film Arena. Successfully entwining the alternative world of film and documentaries with live performances and stunning visuals this arena of wonder can help transport you into a parallel and uncharted world. Your senses will tingle and tickle with an exciting mix of visual and musical art.

Providing some sonic delectation to the Music & Film Arena, Mark Lamarr completes his selection of 5 specially chosen acts for his ‘God’s Jukebox’ at Latitude. Lamarr brings the extraordinary talent of James Hunter, one of the best (and one of the few) British blue-eyed soul singers of the last couple of decades. Starting his career as Howlin’ Wilf in the ‘80s, working with Van Morrison in the ‘90s and recording Grammy nominated albums in the ‘00s, James Hunter’s amazing guitar prowess - his manic solos recalling the fretwork of Ike Turner – and soulful voice has earned him plaudits all over the world. According to Van Morrison, James Hunter is "one of the best voices, and one of the best-kept secrets, in British R&B and soul.” Mark Lamarr also invites Hunter’s recent touring buddy and country blues genius Pete Molinari. Hailing from Kent’s Medway Delta, Molinari, discovered by Billy Childish, has been wowing audiences with his remarkable falsetto which echoes such legendary voices as Patsy Cline, Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie. In the spirit of the great folk revival of the 1960s Molinari channels this inspiration into a fresh and reverent contemporary sound. Both Hunter and Molinari have recorded their forthcoming albums with famed producer Liam Watson at the legendary analogue Toe Rag Studios - where The White Stripes recorded Elephant.

Latitude is pleased to announce that the internationally renowned art exhibition PostSecret is coming to the Music & Film Arena. Festival goers are invited to submit their own post secret to the exhibition. In addition there will be a collaborative project with Goldsmiths Film Making student, Mercy Laio, who will be getting up-close and personal and asking people their secrets for a film project exclusively for Latitude. The award winning blog and art project www.postsecret.com was set up by Frank Warren in 2005 to massive critical acclaim and soon developed a huge international following of contributors and fans. The concept is simple; people from all backgrounds and nationalities are invited to send creatively decorated postcards bearing true secrets that have never before been revealed. The project will extend into an experience within the Arena that will be both highly visual as well as thought provoking.

Latitude welcomes a fantastic showing of the poignant and searching documentary film ‘Holocaust Tourism’ by award-winning Glasgow film director Jes Benstock. In ‘Holocaust Tourism’ Benstock talks to a number of people involved in the tourist industry and conveys it with animation to help uncover the way tourism and tourists are changing the way we understand the complex past. Benstock wanted to "make something which would help people understand the complexity of what is happening to the memory of the Holocaust. I believe it's happening to every human tragedy in living memory - the "heritage" style repackaging of history."  If some critics sneer that Michael Moore is a documentarian-turned-comedian, Jes has made the alternative journey. A whistle-stop tour from Auschwitz hot-dogs to Krakow's kitsch Judaica that asks, how is dark tourism changing history? Jes Benstock’s Holocaust Tourism won the NPA Shorts 06/07 Jury Award and has been showcased at many prestigious film festivals around the word.

The Music & Film Arena will be positively buzzing with unique and cutting edge events that shake up the traditional cinema experience courtesy of Future Cinema. By fusing film with music, theatre and performance, these wondrously atmospheric and highly interactive cinematic experiences are famed for taking audiences on a multi-sensory ride and have become “don't miss” events all across the UK. The Guardian has declared them as “The True Pioneers of petit cinema” and Time Out has described these events as “The Nightlife of your dreams.” Exclusively for Latitude, Future Cinema has created Future Cinema Live - a very different and unique cinema show. Live bands, a classic feature rescored, theatre performers, and the very best films from Future Shorts are all in the mix to create a completely immersive live film experience.

Surrender your mind and senses to the sonic and visual rush of Lautrec’s 2001: A Dubstep Odyssey. The “delicious sampledelics” of Lautrec brings to the Music & Film Arena a collaboration between the Lautrec laptop wizardry and the post-rock instrumentalism of SonVer’s electric cello, guitar, percussion, bass and visuals. A dubstep-beat driven mix of multi-layered textures and melodies all set to some of the most iconic space images ever committed to celluloid, provided by Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001 A Space Odyssey’.

The emerging talent of Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring bring their melodic pop perfection to Latitude. They will be performing alongside VJ Buzzard who will be creating live visuals, baking cakes (to be handed out to the audience!), painting pictures and showering the band with flowers and good vibes to help kick off Latitude 2008.
Plus, playing as part of Chris Shepherd’s afternoon of shorts, films, music and multi-talented artists, the delightful and “spoken word queen of now”, George Pringle brings home-spun pop-poetry to Latitude. A ‘diseuse’ (a female performer of monologues) George makes electronic music on her iBook G4, which she calls Truman, recites poetry over the tracks and incorporates projections of her photo journals into her live shows. Her performances have been described as “just plain charming” by Music Week and simply “dead funny and brilliantly aware” by Time Out.

They join an exciting line-up of alternative film and documentaries courtesy of BAFTA and the Halloween Music & Film Club as well as Mark Lamarr presenting Buzzcocks, Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed & The True Loves and The Heavy and live performances from Barry Adamson plus much more to be announced.

Literary Arena
Take a moment in the shade and bask in the delights of the Literary Arena tucked away in the corner of Henham Park, a hub of compelling stories, inspirational discussions and raucous laughter.

John King’s raw, gritty and powerful London based writing will have you on the edge of your seat. Best known for his 1996 book ‘The Football Factory’ which was later made into a popular motion picture, King’s tales of British working class cultures, football violence and underlying political unrest are both unsettling and fascinating. Latitude will be a very rare opportunity to catch John reading live.

In contrast Norfolk local Raffaella Barker is heavily influenced and inspired by the countryside around her,  Growing up in such a beautiful setting has had an unmistakable impact on Barker’s selection of words and use of language. Her debut novel ‘Come And Tell Me Some Lies’ was published in 1994, followed by another six best selling novels including ‘The Hook’, ‘Hens Dancing’, ‘Summertime’, ‘Green Grass’, the children's book ‘Phosphorescence’ and ‘A Perfect Life’. In addition Barker is a regular contributor to The Sunday Times Style magazine, Harpers & Queens and The Spectator. She writes brilliantly and comically about eccentric characters and family life in the Norfolk countryside – an enthralling writer perfect for the lush surroundings of Henham Park.

Nominated by Granta magazine as one of the 20 'Best of Young British Novelists’ Toby Litt has had eight novels published including the critically acclaimed ‘Adventures In Capitalism’, ‘Beatniks: An English Road Movie’, ‘Corpsing’ and ‘Deadkidsongs’. His latest novel 'I Play The Drums In A Band Called Okay' the continuing adventures of a mid-level Canadian indie rock band called, Okay has been published this year.

The newest voice to emerge from a vibrant literature scene in Europe’s Capital of Culture, Helen Walsh certainly knows a thing or two about sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll. Discovering clubbing and drugs at the tender age of 13, and involved in the drag queen scene by 16 – now in her twenties she has drawn on these life experiences for her controversial, coming of age debut ‘Brass’ which won the Betty Task Award. Walsh will read from her new book, ‘Once Upon a Time in England’, a window into the lives of a lone mixed-race family on a desolate all white council estate in the North. Insightful and sensitive, Walsh has created a family who will stay in your heart long after you have left the Literary Arena.

British novelist Catherine O'Flynn has received critical acclaim for her debut book 'What Was Lost' and won the prestigious first novel prize at this year's Costa Book Awards. An examination of the often lacklustre and empty experience of modern life, contrasted with the energy and optimism of a young girl who went missing in the mid-1980s, 'What Was Lost' was longlisted for the 2007 Man Booker Prize for Fiction and the Orange Prize for Fiction and shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award. It also won the Jelf Group First Novel Award at the Guildford Book Festival.

Funny man Mark Barrowcliffe brings his hilarious and original writing to the Literary Arena. Ex-stand up comedian, Mark has a brilliant way with imagery and in the case of his debut novel 'Girlfriend 44', he provides a great insight into the workings of a man's mind who is in search of the perfect woman. His latest offering 'Mr.Wrong' is a brutally honest and funny account of his own lovelife - a single mans search for ‘The One’ and in Barrowcliffe’s own words “My life as a fool for love”.

Journalist, author and ex-sex columnist for Time Out, Tania Glyde is a fascinating addition to the Literary Arena. Her fiction and journalism is often focused on the female predicament, particularly with respect to sex, and power and as a recovering alcoholic, Tania’s recent book ‘Cleaning Up – How I Gave Up Drinking and Lived’ is about how she took on British booze culture and survived to tell the tale. Tania’s previous work includes fiction novels ‘Junk DNA’, and Clever Girl’, two short stories and work published in the Independent and Independent on Sunday.

John Williams has penned a number of books surrounding themes of Cardiff’s tough criminal underclass. His thrilling, exhilarating writing style has seen his appeal reach beyond his native city with books including ‘Bloody Valentine - A Killing in Cardiff’, ‘Temperance Town’ and ‘Cardiff Dead’ all capturing the imagination. 
Time Out's Editor-at-Large Michael Hodges has been working hard to reveal the uncomfortable truths about London democracy. He secured enough signatures and raised the required £10,000 minimum to stand for Mayor of London through Time Out's magazine and website, and whilst doing so Hodges created a 'people's manifesto' - fighting an electoral system he deemed unfair and undemocratic. He is proposing an early day motion in the House of Commons, which will call for an end to the discriminatory barriers that prevent ordinary Londoners contributing to the running of their own city and although they have now withdrawn from the official election, the fight against the system continues! They will be joined by a Literary Arena packed full of top authors including Simon Armitage, Hanif Kureishi, Irvine Welsh and Iain Banks as well as Latitude favourites; Vox ‘N’ Roll, Word Theatre and The Early Edition with Marcus Brigstocke

Elsewhere at the ground-breaking Latitude Festival the awe-inspiring Sadler’s Wells will perform their world class dance on a beautiful stage floating in the middle of the lake as will The Irrepressibles and their orchestral brilliance, the Poetry Arena, hosted by Luke Wright is bursting with incredible talent from Adrian Mitcchel