Curve welcomes communities back to city centre with Curve on the Square

Mon 2 Aug 2021

Leicester’s Curve theatre is celebrating the reopening of the city this summer with a month of free live outdoor performances and activities.

Curve on the Square, part of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Reopening High Streets Safely programme of activity in association with Leicester City Council and BID Leicester, will see a stage built on Orton Square outside the theatre, with local artists and community groups providing entertainment for all ages throughout August.

On Friday evenings between 6pm and 9pm and Saturday evenings 6pm to 8pm, audiences will be able to enjoy a variety of performances from music to dance and spoken word. Each Saturday from 10am to 12pm, artists will lead activities for children and families, then from 2pm to 4pm a range of acts will take to the stage, including beatboxers, musical theatre performers and more. A full line-up of local artists is set to be confirmed soon.

Curve on the Square will take place on Friday 6, Saturday 7, Friday 13, Friday 20, Saturday 21, Friday 27 and Saturday 28 August.

Each event will be free with no need to book and during every session Curve will operate an outdoor bar serving hot and cold drinks and snacks.

Curve’s Chief Executive Chris Stafford and Artistic Director Nikolai Foster commented:

“It is always a joy to collaborate with the city council and BID Leicester on events like Curve on the Square, which brings us all together and celebrates the rich culture and diversity of our great city. Emerging from the pandemic, now more than ever, we all have a role to play in ensuring our city centre is alive once more, bringing us all together to enjoy free live performances by our superb local artists and community groups. Let’s hope the sun shines!”

City Mayor Peter Soulsby said:

“We want to support Leicester’s economic recovery by encouraging families to return to the city centre and enjoy our cafés, shops, cinemas, restaurants and, of course, theatres once again.

“Curve on the Square, with its exciting programme of free live performance and activities in the heart of the cultural quarter, is another great reason for people to visit and explore our fantastic city centre this summer.”

Based in the city’s Cultural Quarter, visitors to Curve will also be able to enter the theatre to view a free community poetry exhibition, with work from budding poets reflecting on Leicester’s resilience, diversity and hopes as the city reopens. The exhibition also includes poems and a film created by members of Curve’s Community Creative Writing Challenge group, led by Leicester poets Mr Shay and Ty’rone Haughton, as well as a filmed piece by award-winning local poet Jess Green and recordings of performances from Curve’s Young Dance Company and Associate Artists. Curve’s community poetry exhibition is inspired by Leicester City Council’s ‘We’ve Missed You’ campaign the focus of the ERDF’s Reopening High Streets Safely campaign which was launched with a poem by Arch Creative co-founder, Joe Nixon.