The show must go onLINE and throughout 2020 and 2021, we created a host of digital content to keep audiences entertained, inspired and creative.
Scroll down to find in-depth conversations with leading theatre-makers, activities and educational resources for children and much more!
Curve at Home
Whilst we weren’t able to open our doors to audiences, we were so pleased to reunite companies at Curve to stage productions of Sunset Boulevard and The Color Purple for audiences to enjoy online.
Find out more about the shows here.
Sunset Boulevard - at Home
A festive gift for our audiences ‘out there in the dark’.
This production of Sunset Boulevard was staged for audiences to watch online from 22 Dec 2020 to 17 Jan 2021.
Reuniting our 2017 company, including Ria Jones as Norma Desmond and Danny Mac as Joe Gillis, the production was directed by Nikolai Foster and hailed as a ‘Game-changer’ by The Telegraph.
Find out more about the show here and watch our Q&A with the team behind the show, including Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black and Christopher Hampton.
The Color Purple - at Home
‘Yes I’m beautiful, and I’m here’
From 16 Feb – 16 Mar 2021, we reunited company members of our award-winning 2019 production of The Color Purple to stage this musical for audiences to enjoy at home, in association with Birmingham Hippodrome.
Led by the incomparable T’Shan Williams as Celie, this emotional and uplifting show was seen by over 20,000 people, with 2,000 free tickets made available as a thank you to NHS workers and school staff.
Follow the link below to find out more about the show and access content including our free digital programme and Q&A with writers Marsha Norma, Stephen Bray and Brenda Russell.
Curve Classroom
As the nation re-entered lockdown early in 2021 and schools closed their doors, we created Curve Classroom, a brand new resource to support home-schooling and lifelong learning.
With a new session available every day, these free lessons were delivered by a range of leading artists with topics ranging from music and mental health, LGBTQ+ history, disability awareness, creative writing, choreography, character work and more.
MADE AT CURVE ARCHIVE SCREENINGS
Archive recordings are made by theatres so we have a full record of the productions we work on. They’re filmed on a single camera at the back of the auditorium. Although never intended for public broadcast, whilst our doors were closed we made a selection of our recordings available with captions for everyone to enjoy.
Please note – as our theatre has now reopened, these recordings are no longer available to view. Thank you for watching and we hope you enjoyed experiencing Made at Curve productions at home!
MEMOIRS OF AN ASIAN FOOTBALL CASUAL
Memoirs of an Asian Football Casual tells Riaz Khan’s colourful account of growing up as the son of strict Pakistani parents in the multi-cultural city of Leicester. Riaz finds refuge from the pressures at home to stay true to his cultural roots, when he becomes involved in the football ‘casual’ culture, and joins Leicester’s infamous ‘firm’ of football hooligans, the ‘Baby Squad’.
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
Bachelor Jack Worthing and his best mate Algernon Moncrieff hope to marry society’s most eligible ladies, Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew. But the lads’ courtship of the women is far from straight forward! With double identities, plenty of ‘Bunburying’ and a number of hostile encounters with the formidable Lady Bracknell, the pair become embroiled in a web of mistaken identities with hilarious consequences.
What the Butler Saw
Dr Prentice, a psychiatric doctor in a private clinic, is attempting to interview – and seduce – would-be secretary Geraldine. Unwittingly surprised by his wife, he hides the girl. The affairs multiply as Mrs Prentice is seduced and blackmailed by young bellhop Nicholas Beckett, and promises him the secretarial post. When a government inspector arrives, closely followed by Sergeant Match who is in search of missing parts of Winston Churchill, chaos, cross-dressing and mistaken identity lead the charge.
My Beautiful Laundrette
Set in London during the Thatcher years, My Beautiful Laundrette tells the story of young British Pakistani, Omar, who transforms his Uncle’s run-down laundrette into a thriving business. After being confronted by a fascist gang, Omar recognises school friend Johnny and uses their history to diffuse the situation. As they renovate the laundrette together, love blossoms between them.
CURVE IN CONVERSATION
Curve in Conversation is our series of in-depth interviews with leading creatives and performers, including Akram Khan, Sarah Travis, Jodie Prenger and more, hosted by our Artistic Director, Nikolai Foster!
Made at Curve digital projects
Throughout lockdown in 2020, our teams worked together with freelancers from our industry to produce exciting new digital work to share with you all.
Watch our video projects below.
Not Something That Other People Do
Watch our video created in collaboration with award-winning Leicester poet and Curve Breakthrough Artist, Jess Green.
Not Something That Other People Do, originally written by Jess for the launch of Leicester City Council’s Cultural Prospectus, celebrates the creativity and resilience of the city and its communities. The video was released as stricter lockdown measures remained in Leicester due to an increase in cases in the city.
Mrs Green & Sheep Soup - Curtain Up
To bring some cheer whilst our doors remain closed, we commissioned our wonderful friends and Curve Associate Artists Sheep Soup to create a song inspired by Curve and the shows we’ve presented on our stages over the years.
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Over the summer of 2020, we worked with over 60 singers, signers and musicians to create a digital community choir performance of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, with musical direction from Alex Parker and video editing by Ben Hewis. As well as members of our Curve Young Company, Friends and Supporters, you’ll also see signers from Leicester Deaf Action Group, singers from our Associate company Kaine Choir, National Youth Music Theatre and more, as well as Rainbows Hospice‘s Bow the Bear and Oscar our theatre dog (and possible Toto contender!).
The Color Purple - Digital Concert
Our Curve Commissioned digital concert of The Color Purple marked Black History Month 2020.
Featuring reflections and performances from cast and creative members of our 2019 Made at Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome co-production – winner of Best Regional Production at the WhatsOnStage Awards earlier this year – this video was a celebration of this great musical and the talent of all those involved.
The Color Purple – Digital Concert was captioned and available to watch for free until Mon 19 October 2020.
#RAINBOWSOFCURVE
This campaign is inspired by the recent #RainbowsOfHope social media trend, which saw children across the country offering a message of hope, unity and happiness to the nation, by sticking pictures of rainbows to their windows.
Your colourful designs could now be featured in the set of our Made at Curve Christmas production, the regional premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s The Wizard of Oz!
Take a look at the inspiring and vibrant submissions we’ve already received in the gallery below.
CURVE COMMUNITY - GET CREATIVE!
Time to get creative!
There’s so much we’re unable to do while our theatre doors are closed but the show must go onLINE – and we’d love to share the ways you’re staying creative right now!
However you’re keeping in touch with culture, send your videos to us and we’ll share them with our audiences online and on social media.
As If We Never Said Goodbye - Sunset Boulevard cast reunion performance
We’re so incredibly grateful to cast members of our 2017 Made At Curve production of Sunset Boulevard for reuniting virtually to record this beautiful performance of ‘As If We Never Said Goodbye’ for us all to enjoy.
Our heartfelt thanks to cast members Ria Jones, Danny Mac, Adam Pearce, Molly Lynch (who also edited this video), Carl Sanderson, Dougie Carter, James Meunier, Ben Chambers, Jessica Paul, Barney Wilkinson and Dave Oxley on French Horn.
Female cast members of our 2016 Made At Curve Community production of Bugsy Malone reunited virtually during lockdown to record the show’s title song for us!
Thank you to singers Jennifer Brown, Charlotte Burnett, Daniela Fabbricatore, Sofia Fabbricatore, Sian Hughes, Demi Hylands, Meg Marston, Evie Robinson, Hannah Willars and Maeve Wood. They are accompanied and orchestrated by George Dyer, with the video edited by Meg Marston and production photography by Tom Wren.
CREATIVES COMMENTARY
We asked our leading Curve Creatives to chose a favourite photograph from a Curve show they’ve worked on and add some commentary to accompany the image – perhaps their vision for a particular moment in the show, a backstage story or bit of DVD directors-style commentary!
We hope you enjoy sharing their insight and passion for the Made at Curve shows they’ve helped create.
KEEP FIT WITH THEATRE
Looking for ways to stay active and get your theatre fix?
We’ve pulled together a host of virtual workout sessions from our affiliate groups for you to keep fit at home, learn something new and have fun!
Try Bollywood for beginners with Nupur Arts Dance Academy, enjoy movement with Sidekick Dance, live dance classes for Over 55s from Moving Together and learn routines from hit musical theatre shows throughout the week with Magnetic Movement.
Nupur Arts: Nartan Online Series 2020
Our Curve Affiliate Company Nupur Arts presents the Nartan Online Series 2020, a celebration of Indian classical, folk-dance and music. Supported by Curve and Arts Council England, this is the sixth edition of the Nartan Series which usually takes place at our theatre each year.
In this archive, experience the grace, fluidity, beautiful technique and rhythm of vibrant Indian classical and folk dance from the comfort of your own home with videos premiering live on Nupur Arts’ YouTube channel.
Education & Learning
Keep your knowledge and creativity ticking with learning and education packs based on our Made at Curve productions.
EDUCATION HIGHLIGHT
The Color Purple - at Home Learning Pack
This learning pack supports our Made at Curve production of The Color Purple – at Home, which we streamed in association with Birmingham Hippodrome from 16 Feb – 16 Mar 2021. It includes details on the history around the production, how the show can be linked to the curriculum and prompts for classroom discussion, among other helpful resources.
Giraffes Can't Dance: The Making Of The Soundtrack
Did you join Gerald the Giraffe and friends at the great Jungle Dance in our 2019 Made at Curve, Rose Theatre Kingston and Simon Friend co-production of Giraffes Can’t Dance?
The family show featured songs and music from our Curve Associate Artist Tasha Taylor Johnson. In this video, created by Tasha, you can see how the show’s vibrant and fun soundtrack was created.
Fun for Kids!
From #RainbowsOfCurve to our George’s Marvellous Medicine, The Cat in the Hat and Giraffes Can’t Dance-inspired activity pack, there’s plenty for young theatre-goers to enjoy!
FUN FOR KIDS HIGHLIGHT
Children's Activity Pack
Invent your own marvellous medicine with George, learn how to draw your very own character with Cat and help Gerald the Giraffe find his way to the Jungle Dance with this fab Jungle Maze with this fun activity pack!
Bedtime Stories
To help keep children entertained and inspired, we asked leading actors to read a selection of stories.
Read along with Leicester actor Mark Peachey as he narrates David Walliams‘ Ratburger and enjoy Golden Globe nominee Cathy Tyson‘s reading of David Walliams’ The Ice Monster.
BAMBOOZLE THEATRE'S MOON SONG
Our Associate Company Bamboozle Theatre has created a host of engaging videos based around its recent production of Moon Song. The videos include songs for you to learn and join in with at home, as well as creative and crafty projects.
Our friends at Bamboozle Theatre specialise in creating amazing experiences for children with learning disabilities and those on the autistic spectrum, so this inclusive programme is perfect for all little ones, parents and carers to enjoy.