OLIVIER AND TONY AWARD-WINNING PRODUCER NICK SIDI ANNOUNCES CURVEBALL, A NEW COMMERCIAL THEATRE PRODUCTION COMPANY WITH ARTIST-LED CREATIVE COLLABORATIONS AT ITS CORE.
How has your extensive experience as both an actor and a producer influenced the way you approach developing new theatrical projects at Curveball?
I think the main thing is that I really have experienced what it feels like to be on both sides of the table – or if you have ever been in a technical rehearsal – both sides of the MacBooks! I do remember my first time in tech as a producer and saying “oh this is what it feels like NOT to be staring out from the stage towards a load of desks with glowing apples looking back at you”. As an actor you work closely with your creative teams so you really see what everyone brings to the work and respect what everyone needs. You see how the work is built day by day from during rehearsals. And over the years that insight has been helpful in allowing me – as a producer – to be welcomed into the creative process.
What excites you most about integrating recording artists into the process of creating musicals, and how does it change the traditional theatre dynamic?
They bring a freshness / something new to the table?. They aren’t necessarily adhering to any preconceived “rules” of musical theatre and so there is a different energy. Having said that – there are also challenges in them understanding the differences in what needs to work dramaturgically as a piece of storytelling as opposed to, say, a great album track. It is the meeting of these two worlds that really excites me – it has to be a collaboration. You must bring them into the theatrical world but also really listen to what they have to offer.
In what ways do you see Curveball Productions challenging conventional theatre norms while maintaining commercial viability?
Curveball is not so much about setting out to break conventional norms – as believing – as i really do – that you make the work first and the commercial viability follows. It is about setting out what the artistic vision is for a show – that is the driving force – rather than a starting point of “well this is a great commercial idea”. All sorts of shows can be “commercial” – you just need to make things that people really want to see. We don’t always know what that is. We can be surprised.
How do you balance nurturing emerging voices with collaborating with established artists to create ambitious and innovative productions?
That is a good question and a challenge but i would hope that with any show that Curveball produces we can be an open door to new voices whether in the cast or creative team. I am a campaigner and fundraiser for Frantic Assembly’s IGNITION program – a free nationwide talent development program for young people with little or no experience of theatre, who face barriers accessing the Arts, and may never even have considered a pathway in our industry as possible. They bring a fresh voice to the stories we tell. I am all for that.
Can you describe a moment in your career when dramaturgy fundamentally transformed a project you were producing?
I wouldn’t say it transformed the project but I do remember a moment where i was so certain of something as a dramaturg that it forced me out of my comfort zone. I was working on a cross genre theatre show called FATHERLAND for Manchester International Festival in 2017 with the playwright Simon Stephens, the musician Karl Hyde (Underworld) and Director / Choreographer Scott Graham. I just had a gut feeling that we should cut one particular song – and this was going to be really difficult for the actor who was performing it. I knew from my own experience as an actor that was going to be very hard conversation to have but I just knew that the piece as a whole would benefit. I remember thinking – this is my job now.
Looking ahead, what kind of cross-genre or experimental collaborations do you hope to bring to the West End and beyond?
Shows like Fatherland where you get a mix of 3 different artists leading a process excite interests me – as do more collaborations with recording artists and theatre makers. It’s not about being experimental as about getting creative forces in a room together from the start so they can spark off each other.