Chair of Arts Council England Sir Peter Bazalgette has visited Curve theatre as part of a move to discover more about Leicester’s bid to become UK City of Culture 2017.
Chief executive Fiona Allen and artistic director Paul Kerryson gave Sir Peter a tour of Curve.
The head of the national development agency for the arts in England watched a rehearsal of Curve’s new production of Chicago and met members of Leicester’s UK City of Culture bid team.
Sir Peter said, “I was struck by the lively cultural offer, partnership working and the genuine ambition of the city. I wish it good luck with its application.”
Fiona Allan commented, “We were delighted to welcome Sir Peter to Curve and to show him exactly what a leading producing theatre can do.
“We discussed the difficulties of balancing artistic ambition with the need to diversify income and he was particularly supportive of plans to expand our commercial areas.”
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport will announce the winning city on Wednesday (20 November).
Should the winner be an English city, it will be able to apply for up to £3m of funding from Arts Council England.
Sir Peter has also visited Hull—the only other English city on the UK City of Culture 2017 shortlist.