LEICESTER’S CURVE THEATRE CELEBRATES RECORD-BREAKING YEAR WITH RELEASE OF 2024/25 ANNUAL RESULTS
- 265,000 tickets sold to performances at Curve, with over 2million tickets sold for Made at Curve productions and co-productions on national and international tours
- Attendance to all ticketed and non-ticketed activity at Curve and on tour was almost 2.3million, an increase of 22% on 2023/24
- 27,500 participants were engaged in theatre’s programme for schools, colleges, universities, community groups, young people, families, elders and artists
- Over £1million raised by the theatre through donations, grants and sponsorship
Leicester’s Curve theatre has released figures from its 2024/25 annual report, revealing yet another record-breaking year.
Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025 over 265,000 tickets were sold to performances at Curve, from shows including the theatre’s own Made at Curve productions of Lerner and Loewe’s MY FAIR LADY, Katori Hall’s THE MOUNTAINTOP and a new Community production FANTASTIC FOXES, as well as opening the first ever UK and Ireland tour of TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL, Tara Theatre’s SILENCE and the tour of Rob Madge’s MY SON’S A QUEER (BUT WHAT CAN YOU DO?). This programme of work also included 132 accessible performances, including British Sign Language (BSL) interpreted, Audio Described, Captioned, Touch Tours, Dementia Friendly and Relaxed.
On national and international tour, Made at Curve productions and co-productions visited over 107 cities, selling over 2million tickets. In January 2025 Curve launched the UK and Ireland tour of KINKY BOOTS with co-producers ROYO, starring STRICTLY COME DANCING’s Johannes Radebe in his debut stage role. Curve’s production of A CHORUS LINE, originally staged in 2021 following the pandemic, returned to Curve in 2024, before touring across the UK and spending a sell-out summer season at Sadler’s Wells.
In total, Curve’s annual turnover for 2024/25 was £18.5million – the highest figure the theatre has ever reported. This includes over £1million received as a registered charity (no. 230708) through donations, grants and sponsorship.
The theatre’s work with schools, colleges, universities, community groups, young families, elders and local artists continued to thrive, with 27,500 participants engaged in Curve’s Creative Programmes activities. This included continued work in Curve Neighbour-Hub areas, the theatre’s flagship, long-term community engagement project which aims to strengthen relationships with local communities in their own spaces.
More than 350 school groups attended a performance at Curve, totalling over 20,000 tickets. Curve Young and Community Company (CYCC) groups saw over 370 participants attend regular theatre classes at Curve or in Neighbour-Hub school settings, with 31% of CYCC participants at Curve supported with free bursary places while 100% of CYCC Hub places were offered free of charge thanks to funding from Leicester based music licensing company PPL PRS and Jon and Katey Jorgensen.
Across the year 1,000 artists took part in artist development programmes led or supported by Curve and the theatre offered 1,220 hours of in-kind rehearsal room space to artists creating and developing new work, as well as Curve Associate companies delivering workshops.
Almost a third of Curve’s audiences over the year were visiting the theatre for the very first time and Curve also distributed close to 1,000 free tickets via Community Ambassadors to those who might not otherwise have been able to attend a show.
Speaking about the results, Curve’s Chief Executive Chris Stafford and Artistic Director Nikolai Foster said:
“We are immensely proud to report on another terrific year for our theatre- the most successful since we opened our doors in 2008. Not only did attendance reach an all-time high for audiences here in Leicester, but working in partnership with other theatres and commercial producers we were able to fly the flag for Curve around the UK and internationally, reaching over 2 million people.
Curve would not be the place it is today without the people who make it happen, and these outstanding results are a testament to the incredible team at Curve and the talents of our wonderful freelance colleagues. As always huge thanks to the support from our fantastic audiences, donors, sponsors, and our principal funders Arts Council England and Leicester City Council.
Whilst we are delighted to sharing such positive news, like most theatres we are operating in an ever-more challenging environment, with rising costs continuing to affect our operations. We urgently need to build sufficient funds for essential capital replacements to ensure Curve thrives into the future.”
This autumn and winter, Curve productions at the theatre’s Leicester home include Edward Albee’s WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, running until Saturday 8 November, before a new Made at Curve production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC (Saturday 22 November to 17 January) and a festive family production of ALIENS LOVE PANTA CLAUS. Curve has already announced ambitious plans for the start of 2026, with the launch of a new Made at Curve touring production of LEGALLY BLONDE starring Amber Davies, the UK premiere of INSIDE AMERICAN PIE and the first major revival of Kander and Ebb’s KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN since its West End premiere in 1992.
To find out more about Curve visit www.curveonline.co.uk