CURVE ANNOUNCES IAN SQUIRES AS CHAIR OF THE BOARD

Today, Curve announced that Ian Squires has been appointed Chair of the Board of Curve. Squires is an experienced theatre trustee and board member. He chaired the board of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre for eight years helping to oversee the theatre’s redevelopment and reopening in 2013. He was also a board member of the Birmingham Hippodrome for four years until 2009. In 2014, he joined the board of the Royal Shakespeare Company and last year became a trustee of the Birmingham Royal Ballet and of Belarus Free Theatre – the political theatre company, who make their first appearance at Curve later this year. Squires takes over the role from Professor Philip Tasker who is stepping down after six years.

On accepting the role, Ian Squires said, “Curve is one of the major theatrical success stories of our day, forging a reputation as a producer of great musicals and plays, taking shows on tour throughout the country and into the West End and – importantly – commissioning new work. It is an honour to be asked to take the theatre on to the next stage of its development and I look forward to working with the board and Curve’s dynamic young management team under the leadership of Chris Stafford.”

Chief Executive of Curve, Chris Stafford said today, “Philip has been an outstanding leader of Curve and a driving force in helping steer our theatre to its success over recent years. I am delighted that Ian Squires has been appointed as Philip’s successor, and everyone at Curve is very much looking forward to working with him. Ian has all the experience and passion to help us realise our exciting ambitions for the future and take our terrific theatre to the next phase.”

In his professional life, Squires has had a 42 year career as a journalist and broadcaster. Beginning his career in the BBC’s current affairs department, he also worked in music and arts programming. He produced the television première of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Requiem from New York City and was executive producer of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story, a programme that won a BAFTA and International Emmy. He also shared a BAFTA Award with the choreographer Gillian Lynne for their television ballet A Simple Man, celebrating the centenary of the artist L. S. Lowry. Following the success of that programme, Squires became Head of Network Television at the BBC in Manchester.

In 2009, he returned to work in London as a controller in the ITV network commissioning team working in news and current affairs. His slate of programmes included the weekly Tonight, The Agenda and the investigative programme Exposure which lifted the veil on the Jimmy Savile scandal. Programmes he commissioned won awards from BAFTA and the Royal Television Society, and in the United States an International Emmy and a prestigious Peabody Award. After leaving ITV in 2015 he became a consultant to Open Executive Search, a recruitment company with offices in Birmingham and London.

ENDS.

NOTES TO EDITORS

CURVE

Curve is a spectacular state-of-the-art theatre based in the heart of Leicester’s vibrant Cultural Quarter. Opened in 2008 by Her Majesty The Queen, the award-winning building was designed by acclaimed architect Rafael Viñoly.

Curve is a registered charity providing engaging world-class theatrical experiences for local communities, enabling people of all ages and backgrounds to access, participate in and learn from the arts, nurturing new and emerging talent, and creating world-class theatrical experiences.

Under the leadership of Chief Executive Chris Stafford and Artistic Director Nikolai Foster, Curve is developing a reputation for producing, programming and touring a bold and diverse programme of musicals, plays, new work and dance. All of this presented alongside a dynamic mix of community engagement and learning opportunities, which firmly places audiences and communities at the heart of what Curve does. Recent productions and co-productions Made At Curve include: Sister Act (A co-production with Jamie Wilson, UK National tour), Legally Blonde: The Musical (& Daegu Opera Festival, South Korea), Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s (& Haymarket Theatre, London & UK national tour), Ishy Din’s Wipers (in collaboration with Belgrade Theatre Coventry & Watford Palace), Roald Dahl’s The Witches (& Lyric Theatre, Hong Kong & UK national tour), Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, Hairspray, Shakespeare’s Richard III, Akram Khan’s Until the Lions (Roundhouse, London), Sue Townsend’s The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ – The Musical, and Jonathan Harvey’s Beautiful Thing (& UK national tour).

Later this year, work at Curve includes a contemporary co-production of The Importance Of Being Earnest with Birmingham Repertory Theatre, a co-production with Akram Khan of Until The Lions, a new production of Grease and an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Twits with Rose Theatre, Kingston.

Curve is the proud joint winner of the UK Theatre Award for Promotion of Diversity.

Curve’s production of Legally Blonde: The Musical recently won two top awards at the Daegu International Musical Festival in South Korea.

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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 above organisations.

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