Curve Annual Report 2015/16

Page 1

ANNUAL REVIEW 2015/16


2 This page:

Oliver!

Directed by Paul Kerryson Photography: Pamela Raith

Front cover:

A Streetcar Named Desire Directed by Nikolai Foster Photography: Manuel Harlan

CONTENTS 3 4 6 8

Welcome A Year In Performance Artistic Overview Curve On Tour & International Partnerships

12 Artist Development at Curve 14 Community Engagement at Curve 16 Learning Curve 18 Experience Curve 20 Curve Partnerships

22 Curve Audiences 24 Curve Numbers 26 Curve Supporters 27 Curve People


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WELCOME I am thrilled to report the 2015/16 season at Curve has been our most successful to date. In an extraordinary year of growth we have seen increased theatre attendances, our highest turnover, and additional activity across the organisation. This year Curve produced or co-produced no less than 14 shows, and in Nikolai Foster’s first full year as Artistic Director we saw a rich and diverse programme of home grown productions, from European premieres through to popular dramas and musicals. In addition, Curve also produced a sell-out drama in our 900-seater theatre for the first time in 5 years – an achievement that cements Curve’s on-going commitment to producing the very best theatre. Another significant area of growth this year has been Curve’s work on tour. In 2015/16 Curve productions/co-productions toured to 48 cities across the UK, and in another first for Curve, our production of David Wood’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches opened at the Lyric Theatre in Hong Kong. ‘Curve on Tour’ has significantly changed our business model, both financially and reputationally – enabling Curve to establish itself as a regional theatre with national and international impact. The profile of our theatre continues to grow and in this last year we saw Curve nominated for a range of major awards. We were all delighted when Curve was awarded the UK Theatre Award for Promotion for Diversity. This is a true testament to the range and depth of the work going on both off and on our stages, ensuring we continue to be a place where everyone can truly come and engage with the arts. As ever, I would like to thank Chief Executive Chris Stafford and all the team at Curve for all their hard work and congratulate them on another excellent year of results. In addition, I would like to express my sincere thanks to our Board of Trustees for the time, dedication and leadership they provide throughout the year. Finally, I stand down as Chair of Curve this autumn after six enjoyable and stimulating years. It has been a real privilege to be part of the life of Curve and to work with such talented and dedicated colleagues. Curve’s success with both audiences and critics has grown as it has become a leading regional theatre with a national reputation – and I have no doubt that it will find even greater success in the future.

It has been another record breaking year for Curve and I am delighted we have seen growth across all areas of our business. Throughout 2015/16 we welcomed more people than ever to Curve and over 250,000 people came to see a show in one of our three theatre spaces – a healthy 57,000 increase from last year. In a year of considerable growth for Curve, we added an extra 99 seats to our Theatre auditorium to meet demand from audiences, we increased turnover by over £2m to £10.2m and we launched the touring arm of our work. In Nikolai Foster’s first full year as Artistic Director, our Made at Curve productions went from strength-to-strength with an ambitious and bold programme of produced titles including world premieres, major revivals, big-name musicals and well-known drama. Made at Curve on our stages was complemented by a rich and varied programme of presented work from some of the world’s very best artists and producers. In addition, our building continued to act as a space and place for new ideas and talent through our artist development programmes. Throughout the year, we worked closely with over 20 companies from across the UK to develop new work, we presented 11 world premieres as part of our annual flagship artist development programme Inside Out and we appointed 10 new associate artists. I am delighted Curve’s community and learning programmes continued to flourish this year and almost 400 schools engaged with us through a range of learning projects and performances. We also launched our programme of free family days and curated almost 70 free foyer performances over the course of the year – ensuring finances were not a barrier for engaging with Curve. In a year when Richard III took over our city, it seemed fitting to stage a community production around the man himself in our Studio. As the quality and breadth of the work at Curve goes from strength to strength despite major financial challenges. We are indebted to Leicester City Council and Arts Council England for their continued support. This enables us to produce work of the highest quality for everyone who lives, learns and works in our city and region. I would also like to thank the people who make Curve the place it is; our terrific and loyal audiences, the inspiring artists and practitioners who have made work in our building, and colleagues from all departments – ‘Team Curve!’ In particular, I would like to say a special thank you to my predecessor Fiona Allan who led our theatre so brilliantly until September 2015. Lastly, on behalf on everyone at Curve, I would like to say a heart-felt thank you to Philip Tasker for his superb leadership, endless support and commitment. Philip has been a driving force in the success of our theatre and we will miss him greatly.

Prof. Philip Tasker Chair

Chris Stafford Chief Executive


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A YEAR IN PERF ORMANCE

OUR COUNTRY’S GOOD 16 – 18 APR

SHIV

BILLY BOW

5 & 6 MAY

A Curve and De Montfort University Production Directed by Nikolai Foster

A Curve Young Company Production Directed by Thomas Hescott

SHAKESPEARE’S RICHARD III A Curve Community Production Directed by Nikolai Foster

A Curve Production Directed by Suba Das

22 – 25 APR

BEAUTIFUL THING

THE ACCORDION SHOP

A Curve Young Company Production Directed by Pooja Ghai

A Curve, Nottingham Playhouse and Tom O’Connell Production Directed by Nikolai Foster

25 JUL – 9 AUG

HAIRSPRAY

A Curve Production Directed by Paul Kerryson

29 & 30 APR

25 – 30 MAY

9 – 19 SEP


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ECHOES & I IMAGINE

A Curve and Aakash Odedra Company Production Directed by Aakash Odedra

OLIVER!

A Curve production Directed by Paul Kerryson

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S A Curve Production Directed by Nikolai Foster

9 – 10 OCT

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE A Curve Production Directed by Nikolai Foster

27 NOV – 23 JAN

3 – 12 MAR

ROALD DAHL’S THE WITCHES

A Curve and Rose Theatre Kingston Production Directed by Nikolai Foster

INTO THE HOODS: REMIXED

16 OCT – 7 NOV

9 DEC – 17 JAN

14 – 15 MAR

ZooNation Dance Company, co-produced with Sadler’s Wells Theatre and co-commissioned by Curve Directed by Kate Prince

“I love being able to see behind the scenes as we walk to our seats.” Audience member


6 2015/16 was a strong year for Made at Curve drama. For the first time in 5 years we produced drama in our 900 seater Theatre; Pulitzer prize finalist Richard Greenberg’s adaptation of Breakfast at Tiffany’s played to sold out houses at Curve. Our Studio productions of Tennessee Williams’ classic A Streetcar Named Desire and Jonathan Harvey’s Beautiful Thing were also well received by audiences and critics alike.

ARTISTIC OVERVIEW Paul Kerryson returned to Curve this Christmas to direct Oliver! our most successful Christmas musical to date. In another first for Curve, we also produced a show specially for young people and their families at Christmas in our Studio – David Wood’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches. 2015/16 saw Curve co-commission and co-produce three new dance pieces. Following the success of Murmur & Inked in 2014, Curve Associate Artist Aakash Odedra returned with the world premieres of Echoes and I Imagine. In addition, we reignited our relationship with ZooNation Dance Company with the fresh and vibrant Into The Hoods – Remixed. Associate Artist Akram Khan also created his new work Until The Lions with us over the Summer. Throughout the year, we continued to produce new work and Aditi Brennan-Kapil’s Shiv was the centre piece of our annual Inside Out Festival. This visceral and moving European Premiere was directed by Curve Associate Director, Suba Das. In addition to our Made at Curve productions, we presented a diverse range of artists and companies on our stages. Well known and popular titles such as Calamity Jane, An Inspector Calls and Shakespeare’s Globe’s Much Ado About Nothing, played alongside new and thought-provoking work including Tamasha Theatre’s Blood, the multi-award winning A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing and Crying Out Loud’s Bromance. We were also delighted to welcome back major national touring companies to Curve including the National Theatre with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the NightTime, New Adventures with Matthew Bourne’s productions of The Car Man and Sleeping Beauty, English Touring Opera’s La Boheme and Northern Ballet with Madame Butterfly. A key highlight in our year was opening the national tour of Cameron Mackintosh’s production of Mary Poppins – cementing our reputation as a destination theatre for producers to open major touring shows. Nikolai Foster Artistic Director

We programmed our first

Dementia Friendly Performance – the second in the UK

We hosted almost

30 After Show Discussions across our artistic programme

18,500

We welcomed first time attenders to Curve


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ARTISTIC OVERVIEW

“Just as the old Leicester Haymarket theatre became my producing partner of choice for many successful productions during the 1970’s, I’m delighted that the handsome new Curve theatre has the facilities and expertise to stage some of my most spectacular productions including both Barnum and Mary Poppins. Leicester is now both top of the league in football as well as being the top destination for producing musicals outside London.” Cameron Mackintosh Photography: A Streetcar Named Desire – Manuel Harlan


8 2015/16 saw a substantial growth in our work on tour – flying the flag for Curve and Leicester across the UK and beyond. In total, Curve co-productions and commissions played to over 250,000 people in 48 cities nationwide. In addition, for the first time in our seven-year history, we took our work out of the UK with our production of Roald Dahl’s The Witches opening in Hong Kong and playing to over 6,000 people. 2015/16 Curve on Tour productions included: • Beautiful Thing with Tom O’Connell for QNQ and Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company • Hairspray with Mark Goucher Productions Ltd • Into the Hoods – Remixed with ZooNation Dance Company • Roald Dahl’s The Witches with Rose Theatre Kingston • Until the Lions with Akram Khan Company • Echoes & I Imagine with Aakash Odedra Company • Murmur & Inked with Aakash Odedra Company • Breakfast At Tiffany’s with Colin Ingram and Peter Kane In another first for Curve, our Artist Development programme ventured outside of the UK through the Arts Council England and British Council Re:Imagine India programme. Suba Das and Curve Associate Artist Aakash Odedra spent three weeks in India researching and workshopping ideas around the themes, politics and issues raised in Amana Fontanella-Khan’s Pink Sari Revolution. Following the visit to India, a team of actors from the UK were joined by actors from India for two weeks at Curve to further work on ideas for performance. We envisage Pink Sari Revolution will be commissioned for a full stage adaptation in 2017/18.

Beautiful Thing

Directed by Nikolai Foster

We were delighted to welcome to Curve some of the world’s greatest artists and companies from across the globe. They included Indian Kathak dancer Aditi Mangaldas who choreographed our new co-commission Echoes, Nevski Prospekt from Belgium and their production of Hop, and Abraham.In.Motion from New York City who presented Pavement as part of Let’s Dance International Festival.

ON TOUR & INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS

Roald Dahl’s The Witches Directed by Nikolai Foster

“Our relationship with Curve has enabled the notion that work which is ‘Made in Leicester’ is seen everywhere around the world.” Aakash Odedra Company

48

Over venues played host to Curve co-productions and commissions


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CURVE ON TOUR & INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS

Photography: Beautiful Thing – Anton Belmonte • The Witches – Catherine Ashmore


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“Aakash Odedra’s total commitment to his performance completely draws you in to the moment.” Echoes & I Imagine, Oct 2015. Audience Member

“Bravery of production and intimacy of atmosphere.” A Streetcar Named Desire, Oct 2015 Audience Member

Photography: Catherine Ashmore, Sean Ebsworth Barnes, Anton Belmonte, Sean Goldthorpe, Manuel Harlan, Johan Persson, Pamela Raith, Whitefoot Photography


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“Our experience was fabulous, such high quality theatre, and every detail of the experience well thought out.” Audience member

“This was our favourite family Christmas theatre event we’ve ever been to with our children.” The Witches, Dec 2015 Audience Member


12 Curve continued to nurture and stimulate new ideas and talent through our artist development programmes. 120 artist development sessions took place at Curve and almost 200 local artists were supported by us through a range of initiatives. Throughout the year, we worked closely with 11 companies from across the region on our flagship Breakthrough programme. Each company received mentoring, support and cash investment from Curve to develop new projects. Amongst many successes, this support enabled 2Magpies Theatre Company to take Curve Commission Ventoux to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, receiving four stars in The Scotsman and securing funding for a three month national tour. We also helped artist Joel Daniel secure an Arts Council award to develop new dance piece Burden, and Sheep Soup Theatre Company were invited to present their work in progress of The Leftovers (a new Curve musical commission) at BEAM Festival, the largest ever celebration of new British musicals in the UK. With assistance from The Royal Court, BBC Writersroom and Fuel, we developed bespoke training programmes to assist in the development of our local talent. Subsequently, Breakthrough artists Rachael Young and Deborah Stevenson were selected for an international training programme at The Royal Court led by playwright Mark Ravenhill.

ARTIST DEVELOPMENT AT

“As a student at De Montfort University, Leicester was where I found my voice, and the city has always been important to me, so I was honoured to be invited to become an Associate Artist at Curve. Curve’s continued commitment to my work, together with the opportunity and space to create and develop new productions there is an incredible gift, and I am grateful to Chris, Nikolai and the whole team.” Akram Khan, Curve Associate Artist Curve continued to act as a training ground for emerging directors and we partnered with Theatre Royal Haymarket’s Masterclass programme, placing young director Siobhan Cannon-Brownlie as an Assistant on Breakfast at Tiffany’s, with a London showcase of her own work as part of this initiative. We also partnered with the Regional Theatre Young Directors Scheme, welcoming Julia Thomas to Curve as Resident Director. In 2016, we welcomed a new team of Associate Artists to Curve including Akram Khan, Sarah Travis, Bamboozle Theatre and Grant Olding. This newly assembled team of leading artists and organisations reflects our artistic ethos and will help us realise our ambitions.

End To End

The Gramophones

Echoes and I Imagine Aakash Odedra


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ARTIST DEVELOPMENT AT CURVE Mrs Green: The Musical Sheep Soup Productions

The Canterbury Tales Impulse Collective

Girls With Balls

Off The Fence Theatre Company

Ventoux

2Magpies Theatre Company

I, Myself And Me Rachael Young

“Curve has been fantastic in supporting our ongoing development, including the ongoing touring of Ventoux.” 2Magpies Theatre Company Photography: Echoes and I Imagine – Sean Goldthorpe • Girls With Balls – Sean Goldthorpe • Ventoux – Julian Hughes • Mrs Green, The Musical – Ashley Bird


14 Curve’s community programmes continued to flourish in 2015/16 by further developing our connections to our diverse communities. In a year when Richard III took over our city, it seemed fitting to stage a community production around the last English King to die in battle. Nikolai Foster’s production of Shakespeare’s Richard III was a detour from our usual community musical and engaged a group of participants from 10 years old to 60 years old. Our Affiliate Community Groups programme expanded to include local dance organisation SideKick, who provide dance training for adults with special needs. Together with 2Funky Arts, Moving Together, Nupur Arts, Kaine Management, Next Wave and Little Movers they provided over 100 free or low cost community classes ranging from gospel singing to breakdancing. We made our Theatre and Studio available for over 20 community showcases and celebrations, from Bollywood dance spectaculars for Diwali, through to the Lord Lieutenant of Rutland’s World War II commemoration event We’ll Meet Again. Over 1,000 community participants performed on a Curve stage this year. In addition, we programmed 6 further Family Days (which provide low-cost and free activities for under 12s) 65 free foyer performances and over 120 further activities ranging from free after show discussions to public art exhibitions, continuing to make Curve accessible to our whole community. We also continued to serve as a hub for city-wide and cultural festivals such as Spark, Diwali, De Montfort University’s Cultural Exchanges, Everybody’s Reading, DMU Pride, Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival and An Indian Summer, hosting 30 performances/events as part of these celebrations.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AT “To be part of this production, in this city and in this year was an opportunity not to be missed for a local actor... it’s just been fantastic.” Mark Peachey, Shakespeare’s Richard III

Shakespeare’s Richard III

Directed by Nikolai Foster

In 2015 Curve received the

2015 UK Theatre Award for Promotion for Diversity


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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AT CURVE

Richard III Celebration Curve Young Company

Family Days

We programmed

18 local community organisations

Over 55s Dance

65 free Foyer performances

Curve’s social media followers increased by almost 30% rising to over 48,500

Photography: Richard III – Pamela Raith, Family Days & Over 55s – Creative By Wren


16 We are proud that learning and participation takes centre stage at Curve. This year over 154 young people took part in classes and rehearsals at Curve and 76 young people took part in our new CYC Kids group. Under the direction of new Youth Theatre Director, John Berkavitch, our CYC Company participated in the National Theatre Connections programme. They performed Cush Jumbo’s Accordion Shop in our Studio before joining other youth companies from across the region in a showcase at Warwick Arts Centre. In addition to producing new drama for students to perform in, we also produced a workshop performance of new musical Billy Bow by Andrew Fisher and Ian Friel which formed part of our Inside Out Festival.

LEARNING

As well as our informal learning and community programmes for people of all ages, our work with schools, universities and young people continued to grow. Throughout the year almost 400 schools engaged with Curve through workshops, projects and performances with theatre attendance and participation attendance exceeding 45,000 and 15,000 respectively. We also continued to support teaching and learning in the classroom through our partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company on the Learning Performance Network programme (LPN). The second year of LPN culminated with over 200 young people from 8 participating schools staging a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to an audience of parents and peers. Our relationship with De Montfort University remains strong and collaborative with the continuation of key projects (student placements and the annual student co-production – this year Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good) and the introduction of new initiatives such as the national conference on Higher Education and Theatre. Our ongoing partnership with Bullfrog Arts enabled us to continue to host workshops and performances at Curve for young people in Foster Care. In addition, Curve also hosted Leicester’s first TedX event. The keynote speaker was British Barrister Shami Chakrabarti and was attended by over 120 people.

Our Country’s Good

Directed by Nikolai Foster

Through workshops, projects and performances over 400 schools engaged with Curve

16% of our audiences

were under 26 years old


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LEARNING CURVE “The students gained a good insight into ‘backstage’ and just how huge Curve is! Your staff were very approachable and the students enjoyed working with them.”

The Accordion Shop Curve Young Company

Lutterworth High School

We delivered nearly

700 learning and participation sessions Photography: Our Country’s Good – Pamela Raith • The Accordion Shop – Whitefoot Photography


18 2015/16 saw us make better use of our unique venue and grow our business for conferences and events.

EXPERIENCE Clients including Local Offer, Electronic Sports League, RICS, Next, Hastings Direct, IBM and the International Glaucoma Association held major events and conferences at Curve throughout the year. The introduction of Set For Events proved popular to companies wanting to hold a conference on the set of one of Curve’s own productions. We also continued to play an active role in our city’s business life through sponsorship, events and business membership initiatives. For the first time Curve was featured in the Stage newspaper’s Top 100 – with the partnership of Chief Executive Chris Stafford and Artistic Director Nikolai Foster listed at number 62. Under the direction of our new Head of Hospitality, Curve’s food and beverage offer has significantly improved and will continue to do so over the next 12 months. Plans are currently being scoped for a redesign of our bar and café areas to enable us to increase seating, improve service and enhance the atmosphere and overall experience. The use of digital technology plays a key part in all the work we create. In 2015 Curve produced the world’s first 360-degree recording of a live theatre performance. Nikolai Foster’s production of Calamity Jane was recorded with state-of-the-art technology enabling audiences to watch the performance on-line from any view point they wished. Whilst this trial needs further development, we have now developed an appetite for finding new ways to connect with audiences through digital technology. Curve was also the focus of a special 30-minute BBC documentary charting the story of our theatre. The Curve On Stage documentary reached 112,000 live viewers and received great feedback locally and nationally.

“Curve really understood the event and were dedicated to its success.” VAL Project Manager Glenn Sutton on Local Offer

Curve programmed

24 accessible performances


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EXPERIENCE CURVE

Curve’s digital distribution engaged over 200,000 people in 2015/16 Photography: Calamity Jane set – Creative By Wren


20 Curve’s commitment to growing sustainable revenue streams has continued throughout the year, and we have enjoyed developing relationships with both new and current partners.

PARTNERSHIPS Our strategic partnership with De Montfort University continues to go from strength to strength and this year included the opportunity for one student to travel to Hong Kong with our production of Roald Dahl’s The Witches. The partnership also created learning and engagement opportunities for both staff and students which included Q&A sessions and access to technical rehearsals. Our Business Associate Scheme has developed throughout the year with new members joining and existing members either upgrading or finding new ways to support our charitable objectives through bespoke sponsorship activities. We have successfully created new partnerships with Remploy, Voluntary Action Leicester and Rowleys to support our access programme. Thanks to their generous support, we have been able to invite children and young people from special educational needs schools to experience live theatre and participate in workshop activities as well as providing our first ever Dementia Friendly performance. This year also saw us commission Bamboozle Theatre to develop a new piece of work for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Moon Song was seen by 160 people free-of-charge and a video teaching resource has been created to enable us to share the impact of this work beyond Leicester. Through our partnership with Voluntary Action Leicester, we also hosted Local Offer Live – a major exhibition of 150 SEND services and 3 SEND focused performances. Local Offer was attended by over 3,000 people.

“It was fantastic that Curve produced such a high-profile production in Breakfast at Tiffany’s and we and KPMG were able to align a business breakfast with the production as part of our sponsorship of the show. It was also the first business breakfast that Curve had hosted on the mezzanine and this made for a great venue to host the event with superb support from the corporate development team at Curve.” Richard Osborn, Weightmans LLP

Photography: Creative By Wren


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CURVE PARTNERSHIPS


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MADE AT CURVE

AUDIENCES “Heart warming to see such a diverse audience of young and old and mixed ethnicity.” Audience member

TICKETS SOLD

251,676 tickets sold

£20.31 ticket yield

Number of customers buying a Made At Curve ticket

5 %

“Great location that attracts the best shows, actors and productions.” Audience member

AVERAGE THEATRE ATTENDANCE

595

performances

64%

67%

71%

72%

2012/13

2013/14

78%

79%

2014/15

2015/16

55%

86,946 discounted tickets sold

2009/10

AUDIENCES

2010/11

2011/12

BME AUDIENCES make up

46%

39% 39%

of audiences were first time attenders to Curve

43% 43%

of audiences had been to Curve 4+ times since we opened

of total audiences for Curve produced work


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“Curve is a leading regional theatre which puts on top quality shows. The theatre staff in all areas are always friendly and most helpful – a credit to themselves and Curve.”

TICKETS SOLD ONLINE

64%

of sales were made online

Audience member

GROUP SALES

58,702

57,337

Followers have increased by in 2015/16, rising to over

39,215

2013/14

SOCIAL MEDIA

2014/15

2015/16

48,500 16,016

We welcomed almost

800new

Group Bookers to Curve for the first time

GEOGRAPHIC REACH

15% 46% 39%

Beyond the region Leicestershire Leicester

30%

32,136 684

users followers subscribers

MEMBERSHIP GROWTH Curve’s access register has over

96%

1000

members

of people said they would visit Curve again in the annual survey

Audiences rated the show they had seen at Curve an average 4.5 out of 5


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NUMBERS 2015/16 saw growth across artistic and commercial activities helping to produce our highest turnover to date of £10.2m. The success of our Made at Curve productions and a strong visiting programme enabled us to generate an income total of £3.9m, whilst commercial operations contributed a further £1.2m. Although overhead and operational costs rose in proportion to the increase in revenue streams, Grant and fundraising income remained on the same levels as 2014/2015. All of this activity helped us to produce a healthy surplus of £140k. In addition to improving our capital replacement, this surplus will be reinvested to ensure we continue to improve our artistic programme of activity and learning and education provision.

SUMMARY BREAKDOWN OF INCOME 2014/15 & 2015/16

4% 4% 1% 1% 25%25%

4% 4% 1% 1% 33%33% 50%50% 2014/15 2014/15 £7,852,424

12% 12%

12% 12%

Ticket sales

2015/16 2015/16 58%58% £10,199,257

Commercial

Grants

Sponsorship and fundraising

“I am delighted to be associated with Curve, a theatre which puts its Creative Teams at the forefront of the Artistic process, nurturing all talent be that experienced practitioners or new and emerging talent. Actors increasingly seek to work at Curve and their feedback having worked there is unendingly positive. As a seasoned Professional of some 25+ years I find it a joy to be an Associate Artist at such a vibrant and inspiring theatre.” Kay Magson (Associate Artist)

Ancillary


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“A tremendously enthusiastic welldirected show, with a great set, wonderful cast and very good orchestra.” Oliver!, Jan 2016 Audience member

“A modern building which allows the audience to see behind the scenes.” Audience member

Photography: Catherine Ashmore, Sean Ebsworth Barnes, Anton Belmonte, Hugo Glendinning, Sean Goldthorpe, Manuel Harlan, Johan Persson, Pamela Raith, Whitefoot Photography


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SUPPORTERS CURVE APPRECIATES THE ONGOING SUPPORT OF

SPONSORS

PARTNERS

BUSINESS ASSOCIATES ECY

EXPERIENCE PARTNERS Linda Fox Geoffrey Hardcastle Daphne Tucker Glyn Tucker Alan Tuckett OBE

CREATE PARTNERS

Annie Bannister Diana & Richard Brooks David Hill Jean Roberts Aubrey & Mary Rodgers David & Diane Statham

SUSTAIN PARTNERS Aatin Anadkat Anthony & Lisa Clare Jonathan Kerry Chris Stafford

Edward Cooper Young Chartered Surveyors


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PEOPLE This year has seen many changes at Curve as it grows to support the vision of the organisation. There have been increased opportunities for colleagues from across the organisation to get involved and help shape the direction of our theatre – from drop-in-sessions with the CEO and focus groups through to open rehearsals and an organisational-wide ‘script club’. Our revitalised council, Curve’s Voice has been fantastic in supporting engagement across the organisation with initiatives for everyone to enjoy. These included a Health and Well-being day, social events and holding drop-in sessions of their own. Training and development opportunities have increased over the year following the introduction of our in-house training programme in 2014. In total, staff attended over 230 training sessions from intensive leadership training programmes through to workshops on Managing Conflict. As well as our in-house training programmes, staff also took part in a variety of courses and programmes led by a range of organisations including DMU, the Clore Leadership Programme, Olivier Mythodrama and UK Theatre. Throughout the year we also supported the development of young people through placements and internships. Over the course of the year we hosted 30 students from DMU, local schools and Leicester College.

TRUSTEES Philip Tasker Chair Anthony Clare Vice Chair Gautam Bodiwala CBE Bobby Dhanjal Gary Dixon Nicola Hurley Sam Javid Peter Lewis Piara Singh Clair Vivien Waterfield Donna Williams Peter Wilson MBE BOARD OBSERVERS Kevan Grantham (Leicester City Council)

Laura White

(Arts Council England)

SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM Chief Executive Chris Stafford Head of Human Resources Julia Bates Head of Hospitality Cedric Chervet Artistic Director Nikolai Foster Finance Director Abi Jevons Technical & Capital Projects Director Paul Moore Head of Business Relations David Ross Director of Communications Claire Ward CURVE ASSOCIATE ARTISTS Our Curve Associate Artists are industry-leading theatre and dance companies who with our support create cutting-edge new work which is showcased at Curve, across the UK and internationally.

Bamboozle Jake Brunger Pippa Cleary Dougal Irvine Akram Khan Company Mel Knott Kay Magson National Youth Music Theatre Aakash Odedra Company Grant Olding Sarah Travis Nick Winston Matthew Wright

CURVE’S VOICE Andrea Casey Gina Holroyde Annie McCourt Christopher Moore Sunita Patel Matt Willars STAR PERFORMERS John Kearns Casual Tickets and Operations David Phillips Head of Lighting Justin Gladwin Graphic Designer


CURVE THEATRE 60 RUTLAND STREET LEICESTER LE1 1SB

“Working closely with Nikolai Foster on his first season as artistic director on Our Country’s Good, Richard III and Breakfast at Tiffany’s it’s clear to see his inspirational vision has already affected the staff and audiences in Leicester. The future for Curve is so incredibly exciting with Nikolai and Chris Stafford running the show. I cannot wait to see how they develop the theatre and look forward to collaborating with them and the whole of the Curve team on future productions.” Grant Olding (Associate Artist)

WWW.CURVEONLINE.CO.UK Curve is run by Leicester Theatre Trust Limited, a registered charity (no. 230708). We gratefully acknowledge and welcome the continued support of and partnership with the organisations listed below.

Breakfast At Tiffany’s

Directed by Nikolai Foster Photography: Sean Ebsworth Barnes


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