20 Facts About Katie Mitchell

Katrina Jane Mitchell was born on 23 September 1964 and is an English theatre director.

Katie Mitchell was born in Reading, Berkshire, raised in Hermitage, Berkshire, and educated at Oakham School.

Katie Mitchell began her career behind the scenes at the King's Head Theatre in London before taking on work as an assistant director at theatre companies including Paines Plough and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

In 1996, Katie Mitchell started directing operas at Welsh National Opera where she directed four productions, including Handel's Jephtha and Jancek's Jenufa.

Katie Mitchell was an Associate Director at the Royal Shakespeare Company between 1996 and 1998.

In 1997, Katie Mitchell became responsible for programming at The Other Place, the RSC's former black box theatre.

Katie Mitchell has directed thirteen productions for the Royal Court, including Ten Billion and 2071 about the climate emergency, an issue she is passionate about.

Katie Mitchell has directed more than 15 live cinema productions in the UK, Austria, Germany and France, at theatres like the Schaubuhne Theatre and the Schauspielhaus in Cologne, and these pieces have toured the world including Greece, Russia, China, Portugal and Brazil.

Whilst at the National Theatre, Katie Mitchell pioneered children's theatre for primary school age theatre goers, including an adaptation of Dr Seuss's The Cat in the Hat.

From 2008, Katie Mitchell started working regularly on mainland Europe in Germany, Holland, France, Denmark and Austria.

Katie Mitchell has worked at the Toneelgroep, Amsterdam, and twice at the Bouffes du Nord, Paris.

Katie Mitchell is a resident director at the Schaubuhne Theatre, Berlin, the Hamburg Schauspielhaus and had a seven-year artist-in-residency at the Aix-en-Provence Festival.

In 2009, Katie Mitchell published The Director's Craft: A Handbook for the Theatre, her practical manual to help emerging directors learn how to direct.

Katie Mitchell has directed installations, including Five Truths at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Katie Mitchell is currently a Professor of Theatre Directing at Royal Holloway, University of London, where she teaches on an MA in directing.

Katie Mitchell has been described as "a director who like no other" and "the closest thing the British theatre has to an auteur".

At the beginning of her career, Katie Mitchell's process involved long and intensive rehearsal periods and use of Stanislavski's system.

Katie Mitchell regularly involves psychiatry in looking at characters, and in 2004 directed a series of workshops on Stanislavski and neuroscience at the NT studio.

In 2016 Katie Mitchell was described as 'British theatre's Queen in exile' and a director who 'provokes strong reactions.

Katie Mitchell was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2009 New Year Honours for services to drama.