Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Maria Miller visited Curve Theatre as part of her aim to find out more about Leicester and its bid to become UK City of Culture in 2017.
Curve chief executive Fiona Allen and artistic director Paul Kerryson gave the Minister a tour of the theatre and she met members of the community production of Sweeney Todd during rehearsals.
Maria Miller commented, “How can you fail to be amazed by a place like Curve?
“If Leicester were to become the next UK City of Culture it would be a fantastic opportunity to showcase the investment that has already gone into the city—Curve being an example of that.
“The Sweeney Todd performers were brilliant and it’s inspiring to see young people performing at such a great venue. This is a place that shows off the best of Leicester’s cultural offer.”
Fiona Allan said, “The Culture Secretary had many insightful questions and seemed particularly impressed by Curve’s inside-out design: the notion of demystifying theatre and making theatrical processes more transparent clearly appealed to her.
“We were also proud to be able to showcase some of the breadth of creative talent fostered here at Curve—it would be difficult to meet members of our community production of Sweeney Todd without being convinced of the social benefits that such projects bring.”