Nicolai trained as a set and costume designer at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (BA) and The Slade School of Fine Art (MFA), and has worked in the UK. Europe and the US. He is Represented by Rachel Daniels at Berlin Associates.
Selected work includes:
The Knowledge (Charing Cross Theatre), Demons (Splitmoon Theatre), The Pulverised (Arcola and York Theatre Royal), Red (David LLoyds Mischief Company), Exodus (Dane Hurst Company), Vestige (Wayne Parsons Dance), In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel (Charing Cross Theatre), La Traviata (Stand Moutier, Switzerland), The Window (Rambert Dance Company) The Divided Laing(Arcola Theatre), Cock/Bull (Aalborg Teater, Denmark), The Lilly of The Valley (ROH2), Nordost (Salisbury Playhouse).