Katie Mitchell to become first Visiting Fellow in Theatre

TORCH (The Oxford Research Centre for the Humanities) is delighted to announce the first of our Visiting Fellows in Theatre for 2020-21: distinguished British theatre and opera director Katie Mitchell.

Join Katie Mitchell and Ben Whishaw in conversation with Wes Williams for our next Big Tent live online event, Thursday 24 September at 5pm.

Mitchell’s work is well known to audiences across the globe. In a career spanning 30 years she has directed over a hundred productions, including text-based theatre, opera, installations and multimedia work. From her early days as an assistant director with Paines Plough and at the Royal Shakespeare Company to her recent success with La Maladie de la Mort, created at Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris, and Orlando at Berlin’s Schaubühne, Mitchell has become renowned for bold and innovative productions. Working with classic texts as well as with contemporary writers, Mitchell has collaborated with the Royal Opera House, the National Theatre, RSC, and the Royal Court as well as theatres across Europe to produce work which provokes and inspires. Her many awards include the Evening Standard Best Director Award and the British Academy President’s Medal. In 2009 she was presented with the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to theatre.

Mitchell read English at Magdalen College, and has enjoyed a fruitful relationship with the University over the years including a stint as Visiting Chair in Opera Studies in 2016/17. As the first Visiting Fellow in Theatre, Katie will deliver a public lecture, run a masterclass with students, and interact with researchers to inform her current directing projects. She will also share her expertise as we shape the plans and programming for the new Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities here in Oxford, a centre which will have performance – dance, music, and theatre – at its core.

TORCH has created this Visiting Fellowship as part of the Humanities Cultural Programme to underscore our commitment to fostering and promoting the exchange of knowledge, research, and practice between theatre makers and the University. We greatly look forward to this partnership with Katie Mitchell.

Katie Mitchell is a HCP Visiting Fellow, part of the Humanities Cultural Programme