Nikolai Foster awarded The Creative Award at Industry Minds Award

On Sun 22 Sep, our Artistic Director, Nikolai Foster, was awarded The Creative Award at the inaugural Industry Minds Awards. The awards recognise those working to improve mental, physical and vocal health in the creative arts.

The award was accepted on Nikolai’s behalf by actor Danny Boy-Hatchard, who most recently appeared at Curve in our Christmas 2017 production of Scrooge the Musical. 

You can read Nikolai’s acceptance speech below.

“I have never won an award before, so am thrilled to be receiving my first one at the inaugural Industry Minds Awards and breaking my award-winning virginity with you! Thank you to the judging panel for this award and many apologies not to be with you this evening, however, we are in the middle of opening My Beautiful Laundrette in Leicester.

“This award is particularly important, as it recognises the work that many of us are doing in order to create a more positive, caring and humane landscape in which to create theatre. People and our well-being is the most important part of the creative process : The more we collaborate, treat each other with respect and humility, the better work we create together.

“Theatre can be a brutal business, where we are required at one moment to be vulnerable and open in the creation of work, but also navigate the challenges of the business side of it. It requires enormous strength-of-character and all of us will have struggled at some point to balance these opposing demands.

“It is an honour to receive an award which recognises the work which all of us are doing at Curve, to better understand and support mental health issues for people working across the arts, whether it’s onstage, backstage or in administration.

“It is alright to feel vulnerable. It is alright to suffer from anxiety. It is alright to feel frightened and unsure in the fast-changing, complicated theatre ecology. It is alright to ask for help and talk about our mental health, as much as we do about protein shakes or going for a jog! As much as we work hard to maintain our physical strength, it is vital we apply the same rigour, training and understanding to our mental health.

“It is humbling to be recognised alongside other nominees Katy Lipson, Philip Joel and Pearson Casting and I salute and congratulate Scarlett Maltman and Cathy Read, who have founded theses vitally important awards with such flair and vision. All of us at Curve wish them every success going forward.”