The shows celebrate stories close to home and from across the globe.
Leicester’s Curve has announced details of four new Made at Curve productions joining its line-up in 2024.
Announced at the theatre’s Season Preview event on Monday, March 18, the four new shows include a fresh and riotous adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, a community production of Leicester City Football Club-inspired drama Fantastic Foxes, a revival of Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop and a world premiere family adaptation of Claire Freedman and Ben Cort’s picture-book, Pirates Love Underpants, which will run alongside Curve’s previously announced production of Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady this Christmas.
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
June 13-15
Curve and De Montfort University (DMU) will present a brand-new retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Adapted and directed by Curve’s Associate Director Cara Nolan – who also directed the 2023 Curve and DMU co-production of Jim Cartwright’s Road – the lively and riotous take on Austen’s classic romance will be performed by drama students from the university.
Synopsis
'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife...'
Mr Darcy does not want a wife and Elizabeth Bennet does not need a husband. But when their paths cross, the greatest reluctant love story of all time begins. Can each overcome their own pride and prejudice?
Expect regency romance, rebellion, wit and many a well-penned letter!
FANTASTIC FOXES
July 26 - August 3
This summer, Curve’s Community Production returns with new play Fantastic Foxes, the story of Leicester, its people and its title-winning football club. Written by Curve Resident Creative Rob Ward, the production will run in Curve’s Studio Theatre.
Curve is calling on local community members to join the company of Fantastic Foxes and auditions will take place in April on Wednesday 3, Wednesday 6 and Saturday 10.
Synopsis
This is the story of a remarkable city, fearless underdogs and Fantastic Foxes. The story of a football club and its generations of devoted fans.
From the creation of the Leicester Fosse team in 1884, to the first silverware in 1890, the great escape of 2015 and the 5000-1 Premier League win of 2016 – plus all the heartache and elation along the way: no matter how our city has changed over the years, we’ve always been united as the Blue Army.
This summer at Curve, a community ensemble brings the real (and sometimes imagined) story of our city and club to life on stage, where Jamie Vardy’s having a party, Gordon Banks has the safest gloves in the land and Gary Lineker’s picking out his best pants.
THE MOUNTAINTOP
September 21 - October 5
Following the success of Curve’s 2023 rehearsed reading of Katori Hall’s Olivier Award-winning play The Mountaintop, the theatre is now set to stage a full new production of the drama.
Once again directed by Nathan Powell (Sucker Punch, Dogs, The Lies You Tell) and with returning cast members Ray Strasser-King (Sucker Punch) and Justina Kehinde (Girl From the North Country), the Made at Curve and MAST Mayflower Studios co-production will run in Curve’s Studio Theatre, before visiting MAST Mayflower Studios Wednesday 9 to Saturday 12 October. Further details of a tour will be announced in due course.
Synopsis
The Mountaintop is sponsored by Leicester-based music licensing company PPL PRS as part of Black History Month at Curve.
After making his monumental ‘I’ve Been to the Mountaintop’ speech against the advice of his colleagues on Wednesday 3rd April, 1968, Dr Martin Luther King checks into room 306 of the Lorraine Motel. Exhausted, conflicted and alone, he orders room service, but instead finds himself served with some unexpected questions from the audacious waitress who unflinchingly cross-examines the makings and misgivings of a hero.
The Mountaintop explores the place where hope and history converge in this captivating, emotional and heart-stopping retelling of Dr. Martin Luther King’s last night on this earth.
PIRATES LOVE UNDERPANTS
December 2, 2024 - January 5, 2025
Curve has also announced the title of its Made at Curve family show this Christmas, a new adaptation of Claire Freedman and Ben Cort’s swashbuckling picture book, Pirates Love Underpants. The story will be adapted for the stage by Brad Fitt and, following Curve’s hit 2023 production of The Owl Who Came For Christmas, the show will also be directed by Cara Nolan.
First published by Simon and Schuster UK Ltd in 2013, this world premiere Made at Curve production will open at Curve and is suitable for children aged three and older.
Synopsis
"These pirates SO love underpants!
Join our swashbuckling party of pirates on their quest to find the fabled Pants of Gold for the Captain's Treasure chest!
Dodge hungry crocs beneath Long-John Bridge, bob upon the waves of Big Knickers Bay, spot sharks in fancy underpants and trek across Three Pants Ridge.
Filled with music, puppetry and glittering pants of gold, arrr you ready to set sail for a family adventure at Curve this winter?
Speaking about the announcements, Curve’s Chief Executive Chris Stafford and Artistic Director Nikolai Foster said: “We are proud to announce these upcoming Curve shows, which reflect the theatre’s ambition to continue presenting great plays and works which celebrate stories close to home and from across the globe.
"We were blown away by the power of Katori Hall’s great play The Mountaintop and director Nathan Powell’s inspired work on a staged reading of this mighty homage to Martin Luther King last year.
"We are now thrilled to be presenting the play in a full production - in collaboration with our friends at MAST in Southampton- and that Nathan and Ray Strasser-King and Justina Kehinde will return to play in this extraordinary theatrical event.
“Equally extraordinary is the story of Leicester City Football Club and we are excited rising star writer Rob Ward returns to Curve to present his new play, Fantastic Foxes with our community ensemble.
"Having spent time in the city chatting to fans and hearing stories of people’s experiences and how football has been a major part of their lives, Fantastic Foxes is a joyous celebration of our city and our fabulous foxes.
“And looking further ahead, we are thrilled our new Associate Director Cara Nolan directs and adapts our De Montfort University co-production of Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice and is also captain of our festive Studio show for the little ones, Pirates Love Underpants.
"Following her huge success with The Owl Who Came For Christmas, Pirates Love Underpants promises to be a raucous festive family theatrical feast.”
Alongside new Made at Curve productions, it was also announced that new musical SuperYou will come to Curve as a full production from Tuesday, October 22 to Saturday, November 9.
With book, music and lyrics by Lourds Lane, the show was originally set to open Off Broadway in spring 2020, but then became the first theatrical show to share live performances during the pandemic with concerts on pick-up trucks in upstate New York. The musical has since become a viral sensation, with clips racking up millions of views worldwide on TikTok, two sold-out Carnegie Hall concerts in 2022 and a concert at the Lyric Theatre in the West End in November 2023.
Life happens. Somehow, we lose touch with our joy, our passion, our power. We forget who the hero is in our own story. Enter SuperYou — the journey of a woman who reconnects with her dreams when her superheroine creations come to life.
Featuring mind-blowing female performers, new, iconic superheroines and an instantly singable, anthemic modern rock score, SuperYou is the heartwarming story of a woman remembering the power of her own voice.
Tickets for Pride and Prejudice, Fantastic Foxes, The Mountaintop and Pirates Love Underpants will go on sale to Curve Friends Tuesday, March 19; Curve Supporters Wednesday, March 20; Curve Members, Groups and Access Register Customers Thursday, March 21; and on general sale Tuesday, March, 26 all at 12noon.
Tickets for SuperYou at Curve and for The Mountaintop at MAST Mayflower Studios will go on sale soon.
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