Theatre and Ecology
Total hours: 9h
Contact: obrador@salabeckett.cat
Katie Mitchell is, undoubtedly, one of the most important stage directors of the moment, in the fields of both text theatre and opera. Several years ago, however, her concern regarding the climate crisis led her to take a radical decision: to stop travelling by plane. This is only the tip of the iceberg of an ongoing and serious project that Mitchell has been developing for years on the relationship between theatre and ecology. The underlying idea is that any theatre or opera production should be environmentally sustainable, both in terms of its content (i.e., on a textual or dramaturgical level, a concept which has been dubbed with the name Ecodramaturgy) and its production process.
In this workshop, Katie Mitchell will be exploring with participants the relationship between ecology and theatre. This will include a brief survey of Mitchell’s work on the subject, and exercises with the aim of developing ecological concepts for staging plays.
Within the GREC 2022 Festival of Barcelona.
Katie Mitchell has directed over 100 productions in a career spanning 30 years. She directs text-based theatre, opera and live cinema productions (a unique combination of video and theatre techniques). In the UK she has directed 9 productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company, 19 for the National Theatre and 12 for The Royal Court –and she has been an Associate Director at all three organisations. In opera she has directed for English National Opera, Glyndebourne Opera, Welsh National Opera and the Royal Opera House.
Recent opera productions include Theodora (ROH), New Dark Age (ROH), Blaubart (Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich), Zauberland (Bouffe du Nord, Paris), Ariadne auf Naxos, Pelléas et Mélisande, Alcina, Trauernacht and The House Taken Over (Aix-en-Provence Festival), Written on Skin (ROH, Aix-en-Provence), Lessons in Love and Violence and Lucia di Lammermoor (ROH), Jenůfa (Dutch National Opera), Miranda (Opera Comique, Paris), Martin’s Le Vin herbé and Feldman’s Neither (Berlin State Opera) and Nono’s Al gran sole carico d’amore (Salzburg Festival, Berlin State Opera).
Her theatre work includes Orlando, Shadows (Eurydice Speaks), Ophelia’s Zimmer, Lungs, The Yellow Wallpaper and Fräulein Julie (Schaubühne, Berlin), Norma Jean Baker of Troy (The Shed, New York), Bluets, Sleeping Men, 4.48 Psychosis, Reisende auf einem Bein, Happy Days, and The Rest Will Be Familiar to you from Cinema (Schauspielhaus, Hamburg), La Maladie de La Mort (Bouffe du Nord, Paris), Anatomy of a Suicide (Royal Court), The Maids (Toneel, Amsterdam) Forbidden Zone (Salzburg Festival), Reise durch die Nacht, Rings of Saturn and Wunchkonzert (Schauspielhaus, Cologne) and When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other, Cleansed, Waves, Women of Troy and Iphigenia at Aulis (National Theatre).
Since 2008 she has split her time between working in the UK and in Europe in countries including Germany, France, Holland, and Scandinavia. She is currently a resident director at the Schaubühne (Berlin) and at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus (Hamburg), and she has completed a seven-year residency at the Aix-en-Provence Festival (France).
Her many awards in the UK include 2 Time Out Awards (1990 & 1991), The Evening Standard Best Director Award (1996) and a Tonic Award for her representations of women (2018). Her awards in Europe and beyond include 3 Theatertreffen prizes (Germany) in 2008 & 2009, an Obie Award (US) in 2009, 2 Golden Mask Awards (Russia) in 2011 & 2019, the Stanislavsky International Prize (Russia) in 2014 and Best Director for 2019 at the International Opera Awards. She was presented with the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2009.
Admission to the course will be based on order of arrival and CV assessment, which should be sent (with photograph included), filling in the form on the right.
Places on courses are limited. Places will be reserved once the course amount has been paid. Payment must be made within one week of receiving the corresponding acceptance email.
The dates indicated for each course or seminar may be subject to variations in exceptional circumstances. These will be notified when applicable.
For the course to take place, a minimum number of students must be registered. If this number is not reached, the course will be cancelled and the student will have the option of registering for a different course (providing that there are places available) or alternatively will receive a refund of the amount paid (100%). If a student withdraws, a refund of 75% of the registration fee will be applicable, providing that written notice is given at least 10 days before the start of the course.