Katie Mitchell’s process
“…A turning point came in 1999, when she began to study with Tatiana Olear, an actress who had trained under Dodin, and with Elen Bowman, whose own training came in a direct line from Stanislavsky.This translates into a very particular modus operandi. With every text that she works on, she reads it first (with the cast) for things that are “facts, non-negotiable facts: it is Russia; there is Moscow; Arkadina married Gavril Treplev”. Then, “all the grey areas you put down as a list of questions. You have to be aware that you might have affinities that might take you in subjective directions.” The process at this point is diagnostic, almost scientific, rather than interpretative, she says. Mitchell and her cast will do exhaustive research, building the histories of the characters and studying the background to the text and writer. The point is to avoid “over-subjective, therapeutic connections”, to produce a “cool, steady analysis” that will lead to an understanding of the “machine of the text” and its main ideas. The key themes of Women of Troy, she says, are “war, family, collapse of moral certainty and death. Lovely themes!”
Next comes interpretation: “It’s like adjusting or fine-tuning on a complex machine. You can never turn off the volume on one of the ideas of the play, but you can adjust it; for instance, I might lower the volume of ‘family’ in the articulation of this play today. It is confusing that people have a picture of me smashing things up for the sake of it. That isn’t the case. The first step I take is careful consideration and detailed study of the material, then I work out how to communicate it now.”
Because of the specificity of her process, Mitchell tends to work with the same core of collaborators. “It will normally take one performance for an actor to use the process efficiently,” she says….”
From a Guardian interview with Charlotte HigginsÂ
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About me
I'm a playwright and investment analyst. I have a broad range of interests: food, gardening, innovation & intellectual property, sustainability, architecture & design, writing and the arts. I sit on the board of Talawa Theatre Company and advise a CIS investment trust on socially responsible investments.
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Recent Work
Recent plays include, for theatre: Nakamitsu, Yellow Gentlemen, Lost in Peru, Lemon Love. For radio: Places in Between (R4), Patent Breaking Life Saving (WS).
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Nakamitsu
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Yellow Gentlemen
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