Leicester’s Curve Theatre recorded its highest turnover, £10.2 million, and ticket sales were up by 28% in 2015-16, its annual review discloses.
During the period, Chris Stafford took over as chief executive and Nikolai Foster completed his first full year as artistic director.
Curve which opened in 2008 sold 251,676 tickets for 595 performances, with 39% of theatregoers attending for the first time.
Curve productions on tour sold more than 250,000 tickets in 48 cities. For the first time the theatre took a production overseas, with Roald Dahl’s The Witches playing to more than 6,000 people in Hong Kong.
Other shows included Jonathan Harvey’s Beautiful Thing, the musical Hairspray, Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire, Lionel Bart’s Oliver! and Richard Greenberg’s adaptation of Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Chief executive Chris Stafford said, “2015-16 has been a fantastic year for Curve. Not only have we substantially increased income across all areas of our organisation, but more than 500,000 people have engaged with our work either in one of our theatre spaces or through one of our productions on the road.
“Curve on tour has had a major impact on our business and I’m thrilled we’ve been able to expand our reach and take Curve co-productions to 48 cities across the UK and internationally. None of this would be possible without our terrific team, wonderful audiences and the support from Leicester city council and Arts Council England.”