Interview with leading children's children's entertainment producers Nicoll Entertainment

Nicoll Entertainment, founded by experienced producers Oliver Royds and Nick Brooke, brings family theatre to life with a focus on live performances that captivate both children and adults alike.

OR: Oliver Royds
NB: Nick Brooke

Could you tell us a bit about you and how you came to start Nicoll Entertainment?

OR: I've been producing West End and family theatre shows for a long time, and share an office with numerous other producers, including Nick. Nick has been a pioneer in putting on children's theatre over evening theatre shows and we found we were bidding for the same children’s stories and titles, so it made sense to come together to collaborate.

NB: Olly and I had produced some children’s shows together over the years but as independent producers in our own right, not through a mutual producing company. We had also licensed certain productions and toured them internationally. We eventually decided the most productive and efficient way would be to put our productions and IP under one ‘roof’ and so formed Nicoll to focus all our family shows with a forward plan and a dedicated team, and this would prove to be a much stronger force within the industry.

Why do you feel it is so important to bring theatre to children?

OR: Every child should have the opportunity to see live theatre, it’s crucial to their development seeing the act of play live in front of them. It allows their imagination to grow, and is the grassroots of the theatre industry inspiring the next generation to come.

NB: Pantomime used to often be a child’s first introduction to live theatre and now the offering is much broader with family theatre having built up so well over the last few decades, it is vital for children to be introduced to live theatre as they are ‘the audience of tomorrow’ for all theatre beyond this initial offering, how else can the industry nurture its future audience?

How do you capture children’s attention for a period of time?

OR: It’s crucial not to underestimate the attention span of children, key elements are visually exciting, fun and taking them on a journey—it helps having a 40ft T-Rex!

NB: By using great imagination through our creative teams.

How does live family entertainment differ from recorded entertainment like TV and movies?

OR: It is very different. Screens of today are inescapable and have become a major part of a child's early development with unknown results later on—nothing can replace live entertainment, family and friends sharing a collective experience together.

NB: Live theatre is unbeatable in terms of the connection it makes with its audience there and then in the room. Other mediums are also vital, but the live experience is like no other, the connection and interaction cannot be matched.

Are there any challenges to creating children’s theatre shows?

OR: Any production comes with challenges but with the right story can be a cut above the mass market of TV screens and content. A strong brand helps, and to do it well takes a lot of time, energy and money making a great product.

How do you make work that engages both children and their families?

OR: Great creative teams and practitioners, taking the time, often years, to develop e.g., we’ve done about six months’ work on a new show, but that won’t be seen on a stage until late 2026.

NB: In all our shows the scripts always consider that our shows are ‘for children and their adults’ so there is always humour and reference to make it appeal to the ‘adults’ in the room and so this harmonises the audience.

Nicoll is behind the incredible puppets for your recent Olivier Award-winning show Dinosaurs Live and The Tiger Who Came to Tea among others. How useful are puppets for bringing these tales to life and conveying stories to children?

OR: Puppetry is a fantastic way to tell stories. War Horse cemented puppetry on the stage and was at the forefront of storytelling within that art form. It can be so expressive and incredibly inspiring to see.

NB: Puppets are vital to the offering as you can do so much more with a puppet and the puppeteer’s immense talent. With a puppet you can create a live T-Rex, a live Tiger, a Giant, a Mouse... which enables belief to be suspended in a live environment that is much more powerful and real than something that is on a screen.

Can you tell us a bit about the puppetry workshop?

OR: I met Max Humphries on a production of The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe we did about 10 years ago, which was led by him and his team—he’s the best in the business, pushing boundaries, growing in scale (and budget!) I can’t tell you anymore; it is the magical, mysterious world of Max Humphries! Sworn to secrecy.

You have four shows on tour at the moment. What is it like taking shows around the country and what are the audiences’ reactions?

OR: The kids’ reactions are priceless. We pride ourselves in producing live theatre that children and adults are experiencing from the same standing point, they share their reactions together on the same level. We’ve also been touring the show in many other languages depending on the country, which has also been really rewarding.

NB: It is always a challenge logistically to do this and exhausting for the team, but the payoff is the audience reaction. It never fails to amaze and gratify us how strongly the audience reacts to our shows, again bringing Dinosaurs to Life or the favourite book at bedtime being made real. Happily, our sales indicate we must be getting something right but we also must be aware that we need to respect the audience and learn from them in terms of reaction and what works (and what might not work so well). Our respect for the audience is the ultimate responsibility; without them, there would be no Nicoll.

What was your favourite show you saw as a child?

OR: I don’t know about shows, but I do remember aged 9 building and creating a full staged version of Cinderella, with a script, lights and even had an open trap to fly onto the stage from!