What is curious directive?
A theatre company homegrown in Norwich and touring the world? Yes - and so much more.
We’re normally bit shy around self promotion but here goes…
Here’s a video we made with pals @compendia_ back in October '21.
It covers our ground-breaking theatre productions (Deciphering & a few others featured), Studio Theatre, digital lab, Botanical Garden Bar & Kitchen, co-working space and more - all in the heart of Norwich on Elm Hill.
If you’re interested in…
1 - Hiring our garden for a party/wedding reception etc - email [email protected]
2- A co-working spot (currently just £68.50/month) - email [email protected]
3 - Booking for Botanical Garden Bar & Kitchen for Pizza and a night out - booking in bio. (Nb menu has changed to 8 Pizzas for now)
4 - Learning more and joining our mailing list: visit
Massive thanks to everyone who helped put this together and document our progress.
team cd x
Original composition by in-house composer @theowhitworth
Videography by @weareavisuals
FESTIVAL 2026 | HEARTWOOD
Extra Show Added! 🚨
At the end of a sold out three week run of HEARTWOOD, there will be an extra show at 2pm, SATURDAY 23rd MAY.
Heartwood explores the very edge of human endurance. The worlds of an ultramarathon runner, arboriculturist and transplant surgeon collide in a moving, contemporary parable about gift-giving. A ground-breaking collaboration between, Norwich-based curious directive, NHS Blood and Transplant and New Earth Theatre, Heartwood marks the company’s return to Norfolk & Norwich Festival for the first time in a decade, with a long run in their own venue.
‘curious directive are theatre pioneers’ Daily Telegraph
Tickets available on our website now 🎟️
E X T R A - S H O W
We’re delighted to share that at the end of our three week run of HEARTWOOD, we’ll be adding an EXTRA SHOW - 2pm, SATURDAY 23rd MAY.
Link in our bio or if we’re sold out, you can try Norfolk and Norwich Festival’s website.
We were able to seat 4 returns last night, so if you’re in Norwich but can’t make the extra show, do turn up to our gate on Wensum Street and we’ll do our best to get you in.
Team cd x
#supportlocal #independenttheatre
W A R M - D O W N #1
Heartwood is in full swing @nnfest and tonight we have the first of our ‘warm down’ events (for a play which includes ultra-running, see what we did there…)
Anyway, when we started developing the ideas for this show with NHS Blood and Transplant, it became clear that there is a much wider conversation to be had about society, empathy and altruism. More specifically within the work of public engagement around organ donation, there’s a very stark and serious set of challenges.
Tonight, we’re delighted to be participating in a conversation with Yasmin Zhuang-Mackie, PhD candidate from the University of Durham. Yasmin’s Phd research focuses on the intersections of ethnic identity, community, and care in relation to organ donation. For this 20-25 minute warm down, we’ll be joined by actors from Heartwood Vera Chok (@verachok ) and Sophie Steer (@sophie.steer.31 ), as well as Director and Designer, Jack Lowe.
We can’t wait to spend some time with Yasmin in the Potting Shed of our venue after the show. All ticket holders are welcome to join this warm down. If you don’t have a ticket to the show, you’re VERY welcome to join too. Just turn up at 8:55pm and we’ll let you in, no ticket required.
So once the lights have come down on Heartwood, we’ll be warming down and widening the aperture of this show.
Hopefully see you there,
Team cd x
P R E V I E W S
HEARTWOOD had two previews on Friday and Saturday evening - and what a response! We’re totally humbled by the SOLD OUT run, immensely positive/thoughtful audience feedback and the opportunity to share this important story.
We didn’t manage to grab everyone from the team, but here’s an 80% company photo as we all came up for air.
Two more weeks of the show, running the length of Norfolk and Norfolk Festival - which were pretty sure hasn’t happened for a theatre show in a very long time.
Thanks to you all for showing there’s a hunger and excitement for innovative theatre productions in our fine city. We couldn’t do it without you.
Please do turn up at our gate from 7pm, and we’ll do our very best to get you in for a 7:30pm start. You can maybe have a drink in our beautiful garden while you wait.
Team cd x
#supportlocal #artistled #trusttheartists
H E A R T W O O D (BTS - rehearsals)
We’ve been working very hard behind the scenes on our new show, Heartwood. We've brought together three brilliant partners, each with their own expertise.
1. We’ve been working with @nhsorgandonor to explore the challenges around organ donation - speaking with Specialist Nurses, surgeons, ambassadors and more.
2. @newearththeatre , based in London, have been helping shape the narrative, which explores the migrant East and South-East Asian experience, as well as an expertise in new writing.
3. @nnfest have programmed the show as part of their festival. NNF’s quiet guidance and support is fantastic - allowing us to make the show we're interested in. Increasingly rare!
This collaboration sees us synthesise our craft, bridging ethics, medicine, extreme sports, arboriculture and more.
In these photos you can see us working on the initial ideas for the show - exploring the languages of the play and making in-roads into the particular type of drama needed. Then, of course, the post-it notes which have accompanied our creative process for nearly 18 years.
We’ll share more in the coming weeks. For now, can’t wait to see some of you at Previews on Friday.
Thanks as ever to @katherinemagerphotography for her ability to capture our creative room.
Team cd x
Heartwood runs 8-23 May as part of NNF. It's sold out on the NNF website, with some tickets still available on ours. See link in bio.
H E A R T W O O D
🌲 NEW SHOW ANNOUNCED 🌲
Those who were with us in 2023 will remember our “Introduction to Organ Donation” Science Club. Three years on, we’re ready to make a new show inspired by that evening. This will be the third in our thrilling new model of making work, which begins with you, our audience.
HEARTWOOD explores the very edge of human endurance. The worlds of an ultramarathon runner, arborist and transplant surgeon collide in a moving, contemporary parable about gift-giving. A ground-breaking collaboration between curious directive, NHS Blood and Transplant and New Earth Theatre. We’re also returning to Norfolk and Norwich Festival for the first time in a decade.
Drawings, sketches, playlists, books, initial character arcs, image boards and a plethora of interviews with NHS specialists have been set up ahead of our creation process for HEARTWOOD, which starts this Friday as we meet collaborating actors.
HEARTWOOD runs 8 - 23 May in Norwich.
We announced this time last week in our Winter Mailout, and have already sold a huge proportion of the tickets.
The link to be part of our next Mailout is in our profile, as well as a link to book an Early Bird ticket.
Team cd x
#newshow #independenttheatre #supportlocal
A P P L A U S E
Huge well done and thanks to the amazing company of Black Sheep after an epic autumn tour. We enjoyed really full houses in Norwich, Manchester, London, Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich. The acting company deserve all the praise they’ve been receiving from audiences, critics, old friends and new.
It’s more important than ever to share ideas across different geographies. And we’re super proud of this show, made in Norwich and toured nationally.
@robert_macpherson@amanda.hadingue@zozaldrich@maryamgrace4@sophie.steer.31@lewisamackinnon
Thanks also to our funders @aceagrams , Cockayne Foundation, @westonfdn , Norwich Freeman’s Charity, Norfolk County Council and Norwich City Council.
Final thanks to our brilliant farming community. We hope we did you proud.
We’ll share a few more moments from the tour in the coming weeks.
Team cd x
P U B L I S H E D
Very very excited to share that Black Sheep has been published by @methuendrama .
Selling them on tour @shoreditchth and our online shop soon.
Amazing to see all our work bound up in this beautiful book.
Couldn’t resist a cast photo together on set.
Team cd x
In the last of our cast interviews, Maryam Grace and Sophie Steer talk about how their characters Afsaneh and Hannah are both inside and outside the Carter family, and how this creates conflict in the play. They also discuss their characters Danny and Darren, who own the neighbouring farm – and the secrets bubbling underneath their lives.
Black Sheep runs until Saturday (1 Nov) at Shoreditch Town Hall, and the tour ends with a run at New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich from 5-8 November.
#castinterviews #behindthescenes #devisedtheatre #theatretour
P O S T
Look at this. We’re away for a week on the Black Sheep national tour and our feedback forms have found their way into our post box, some with a stamp, some by hand. This is how you KNOW different sorts of people are engaged, right? That conscious effort to walk to a postbox, to affix a stamp, to connect. This means the world to us - thank you!
Sneaky copy of @newscientist in there too - obvs.
More updates from our wild tour in the coming days.
Team cd x
#home #touring #independenttheatre
First reviews in from our opening night at Shoreditch Town Hall on Friday.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “There’s a lived understanding running through it. This is what theatre should be doing: giving voice to the people who need it most.” @youngishperspective
⭐⭐⭐⭐ “It would be wrong to reveal too much about the second half other than to say that it is surprising, sympathetic and satisfying.” @londontheatre1
To read the reviews in full and book head to our tour account @curious_national@shoreditchth@newwolsey@curious_national
#theatrereviews #theatrereviewslondon #5starreview #4starreview
