51Âþ»­

A group of students from 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­) are preparing to share a week of specially programmed work at Curve as part of #51Âþ»­Pride and LGBT History Month.

The 10 students have spent four months embedded within Curve, in Leicester city centre, working closely with teams at the theatre to programme and market a week of LGBT-focused theatrical productions for audiences.

The week of theatre includes At a Stretch (19 Feb), the wordless visual theatre story for children and families of two women who meet, get stuck together and, despite their best efforts, fall in love; Gypsy Queen (20 Feb), an unconventional love story of two fighters who discover that life’s greatest challenge lies outside the ring and Polaris (24 Feb), a one woman performance which explores female sexuality, queer culture and identity.

The project is part of a new cultural partnership deal between Curve and 51Âþ»­, which sees the two organisations cementing their relationship to create positive cultural change in Leicester.

The renewed partnership was signed on Thursday by Curve’s Chief Executive Chris Stafford and Professor Andy Collop, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of 51Âþ»­.

Chris Stafford was thrilled with the partnership, saying:

“We are incredibly proud of our partnership with 51Âþ»­. Through working together we have been able to share practice, champion Leicester as a great city and provide students with opportunities to actively engage with programmes of work and initiatives across all areas of our business.

“Curve has benefited hugely from this partnership and as we enter our 10th year, I’m delighted we have developed a strategic framework that will enable us to grow existing projects, devise new programmes of work and continue to develop and retain talent.”

Professor Andy Collop, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of 51Âþ»­, said:

“51Âþ»­ is renowned for its creativity and innovative spirit and our students are well placed to make an important contribution to one of the finest and most forward-thinking theatres in the UK.  

“The opportunities awarded to our Arts and Festivals Management students are particularly exciting and I look forward to seeing the results of their hard work both front and back stage.

“Our partnership with Curve brings immense benefits to both partners, students and to theatregoers in our city and region. It goes from strength and strength and I am delighted that we are renewing and strengthening that partnership.”

Following the #51Âþ»­Pride initiative, and students from 51Âþ»­ will benefit from the hands-on experience of life within a professional arts organisation. With previous 51Âþ»­ and Curve co-productions including A Clockwork Orange in 2017 and Our Day Out in 2016, students this year will be working with the teams at Curve to create and perform in a production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible from 3 – 5 May.

Recently it was also announced that Curve and 51Âþ»­ were joining forces to offer a new ‘Business of Performing Arts’ module to students on the Business Management in the Creative Industries MSc and the Creative Enterprise MSc run by Leicester Castle Business School. The module offers students an understanding of the business models that support the performing arts and evaluate the changing trends that could impact an arts organisation.

A registered charity, Curve is one of the UK’s leading producing theatres. As well as its own Made at Curve productions such as the upcoming An Officer and a Gentleman The Musical and the festive production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, the theatre also plays a key role in the artistic development of hundreds of local individuals and groups.