“Katie Mitchell … considered to be the most important British director of theatre and opera at work today – indeed among the greatest in the world.”   The Guardian, 2016

Katie Mitchell OBE is a multi-award-winning, internationally recognised, British-born theatre director, author, and educator. She has a comprehensive working understanding of theatre and opera practice, having held senior positions at major houses, developing an in-depth knowledge of working with European state funded institutions/teams, and overseeing large budgets across international borders. Katie is an experienced educator, author, mentor, champion of diversity and environmental issues and a skilled media communicator.

Theatre & Opera Director:

In her 40-year career, Katie has directed over 100 productions and held board-level and consultancy roles as:

• Artistic Director, RSC’s Other Place Theatre (1996 - 98)

• Board Member, Young Vic (1996 - 2000) 

• Associate Director, Royal Shakespeare Company (1995 - 98)

• Associate Director,  Royal Court Theatre (2000 – 2003)

• Associate Director, National Theatre (2003 – 2011)

• Resident Director, Cologne Schauspielhaus (2008 – 2012)

• Associate Director, Aix-en-Provence Opera Festival (2012 – 2019).

Current roles include:

• Associate Artist, the Royal Court Theatre, London (2023 -)

• Resident Director, the Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hamburg (2013 -)

• Resident Director, Schaubuhne Theatre, Berlin (2010 -)

Her pro-active support of young female artists and dedication to foregrounding feminism on stage saw her awarded the prestigious British Academy’s President’s Medal for services to theatre (2017) and the Tonic Award (2018).

Other awards include: Evening Standard Best Director Award 1996 (UK); Theatertreffen Prize 2008, 2009, 2019, 2024 (Germany); OBIE Best Production Award 2009 (US); Golden Mask Award for Best Foreign Production 2011 (Russia); Best Production Reumert Prize 2012 (Denmark); Best Director Nestroy Prize 2014 (Austria); Stanislavsky International Prize 2014 (Russia); New Theatrical Realities Prize, Europe Prize 2014; and Best Director in the International Opera Awards, 2022.

Future productions:

Famous for radical experimentation and centring female experience, upcoming productions include The House of Bernarda Alba (Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hamburg), Frau ohne Schatten (Netherlands National Opera, Amsterdam), Cow (The Royal Court Theatre, London), Makropulos Case (Royal Opera House, London), Dead Women (Schaubuhne, Berlin) and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (Neal Street Productions).

Educator:

Katie is a passionate educator, teaching extensively in schools, conservatoires and universities, both in the UK and internationally. Present roles include:

• Professor of Theatre Directing at Royal Holloway University (2008 - )

• Visiting Professor, Melbourne University (2021 - ) 

• Adjunct Professor, Columbia University, New York (2020 -). 

• Professor of Practice at Central School of Speech and Drama (April 2025 onwards)

• Visiting Professor at LAMDA, London (2020 -), the Danish National School of Performing Arts, Copenhagen (2020 -) and the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (2020 -)

A Cultural Fellow of Kings College, London and Honorary Fellow at Magdalen College, Oxford University, previous academic positions include.

• Visiting Fellow to Central St Martins (2015 – 2018)

• Visiting Professor of Opera at Oxford University (2016)

• Visiting Fellow at The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (2020 – 2022)

Research awards include the Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship (1989) to research techniques in Eastern Europe, and Research Fellowship from the National Endowment for Science and the Arts (2000).

Leader of Change:

A pioneer of educational projects for British schools, she launched the first ever repertoire productions of plays and operas for primary school children at the National Theatre (2009 - 2012) and at English National Opera (2014). 

In 2024 she conceived a new drama teaching resource – Practitioners in Practice - in response to the collapse in GCSE/A Level drama uptake in collaboration with the National Theatre.

As part of her commitment to DE&I she has designed and developed female empowerment workshops for multiple British and European organisations and provides extensive mentoring for female, diverse and non-binary practitioners across a range of industry roles.

An advocate on environmental issues and accomplished public speaker, Katie has been a guest speaker at many international industry events, most recently in Denmark and Korea. Ground-breaking environmental productions include the first ever off-grid bike-powered classical concert at the Royal Festival Hall (2022) and a radical European touring model where no people or materials moved between performing venues (2020 - 2023).

Published Author:

The Director’s Craft, Routledge, 2008 (in several translations, including Catalan, Korean, Iranian and German), a practical manual for young directors. Presently writing a second directing manual for young theatre makers for Routledge and a travel book for Methuen.