Anna Mackmin
Encyclopedia
Anna Mackmin is an award-winning British
theatre director. She has been an associate director at the Sheffield Crucible
and at the Gate Theatre
in London
.
in 1964. She trained as an actress at the Central School of Speech and Drama
. Dissatisfied with her acting career, she became a clothing designer at one point and set up a business with her sister in London's Soho
neighbourhood. Mackmin was friends with the actress and writer Charlotte Jones
, and it was Jones' first play Airswimming
which also provided Mackmin with her directorial debut in 1997.
She had only done two plays when Michael Grandage
offered her the position of associate director at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield
. There she scored notable successes with Arthur Miller
's The Crucible
and Caryl Churchill
's Cloud Nine
, the latter earning her the 2004 TMA Award for best director. She has also had a successful stint at the Gate Theatre, where her most recent directorial effort was Ibsen's Ghosts
.
Mackmin has repeatedly worked with Charlotte Jones since their joint debut, directing Jones' plays In Flame
, The Dark and The Lightning Play. She has also collaborated several times with Amelia Bullmore
whom she originally directed as an actress in The Crucible in 2004. Since then, she has directed Bullmore's play Mammals and also her adaptation of Ghosts.
In 2006, Mackmin staged an acclaimed triple bill at the National Theatre
, entitled Burn/Chatroom/Citizenship. In the spring of 2007, she again won plaudits, this time for her direction of Dying For It, Moira Buffini
's 'free adaptation' of Nikolai Erdman
's The Suicide
.
Anna Mackmin's sister Scarlett Mackmin
is a choreographer also working in the London theatre.
Mackmin directed Toby Stephens
as Henry in a revival of Tom Stoppard
's The Real Thing
at the Old Vic
Theatre in London from April through June 2010.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
theatre director. She has been an associate director at the Sheffield Crucible
Crucible Theatre
The Crucible Theatre is a theatre built in 1971 and located in the city centre of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. As well as theatrical performances, it is home to the most important event in professional snooker, the World Snooker Championship....
and at the Gate Theatre
Gate Theatre (London)
The Gate Theatre is a London fringe theatre above the Prince Albert pub in Notting Hill Gate, from which it takes its name. It opened in 1979.-External links:*...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Life and career
Mackmin was born in LeedsLeeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
in 1964. She trained as an actress at the Central School of Speech and Drama
Central School of Speech and Drama
The Central School of Speech and Drama was founded in London in 1906 by Elsie Fogerty to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students...
. Dissatisfied with her acting career, she became a clothing designer at one point and set up a business with her sister in London's Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
neighbourhood. Mackmin was friends with the actress and writer Charlotte Jones
Charlotte Jones (writer)
Charlotte Jones is a British actress and playwright.Her first play Airswimming debuted in 1997 at the Battersea Arts Centre in London. Her other plays include In Flame, The Dark, The Lightning Play, and Humble Boy...
, and it was Jones' first play Airswimming
Airswimming
Airswimming is the first play written by Charlotte Jones. Its 1997 premiere at the Battersea Arts Centre was directed by Anna Mackmin and featured Rosie Cavaliero and Scarlett Mackmin. It is based on two women being imprisoned in a mental asylum in the 1920s for having children outside of...
which also provided Mackmin with her directorial debut in 1997.
She had only done two plays when Michael Grandage
Michael Grandage
Michael Grandage CBE is a British theatre director and producer, and current Artistic Director at the Donmar Warehouse, London. Grandage won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Red.-Early years:...
offered her the position of associate director at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
. There she scored notable successes with Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
's The Crucible
The Crucible
The Crucible is a 1952 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the US government blacklisted accused communists...
and Caryl Churchill
Caryl Churchill
Caryl Churchill is an English dramatist known for her use of non-naturalistic techniques and feminist themes, the abuses of power, and sexual politics. She is acknowledged as a major playwright in the English language and a leading female writer...
's Cloud Nine
Cloud Nine (play)
Cloud Nine is a two-act play written by British playwright Caryl Churchill after workshops with the Joint Stock Theatre Company in late 1978 and first performed at Dartington College of Arts, Devon, on 14 February 1979....
, the latter earning her the 2004 TMA Award for best director. She has also had a successful stint at the Gate Theatre, where her most recent directorial effort was Ibsen's Ghosts
Ghosts (play)
Ghosts is a play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was written in 1881 and first staged in 1882.Like many of Ibsen's better-known plays, Ghosts is a scathing commentary on 19th century morality....
.
Mackmin has repeatedly worked with Charlotte Jones since their joint debut, directing Jones' plays In Flame
In Flame
In Flame is a 2000 play by Charlotte Jones. Its premiere at the Bush Theatre was directed by Anna Mackmin and featured Marcia Warren, Kerry Fox, Rosie Cavaliero, Ivan Kaye, Jason Hughes and Emma Dewhurst. It is set in 1908 and 2000 and centred around two men and three women....
, The Dark and The Lightning Play. She has also collaborated several times with Amelia Bullmore
Amelia Bullmore
Amelia Bullmore is an English actress and writer. She was born in London and studied drama at the University of Manchester. Bullmore started working as an actor but turned to writing in 1995...
whom she originally directed as an actress in The Crucible in 2004. Since then, she has directed Bullmore's play Mammals and also her adaptation of Ghosts.
In 2006, Mackmin staged an acclaimed triple bill at the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, entitled Burn/Chatroom/Citizenship. In the spring of 2007, she again won plaudits, this time for her direction of Dying For It, Moira Buffini
Moira Buffini
Moira Buffini is an English dramatist, director and actor.-Career:Buffini was born in Cheshire to Irish parents, and trained as an actor at the Welsh College of Music and Drama. For Jordan, co-written with Anna Reynolds in 1992, she won a Time Out Award for her performance and Writers' Guild Award...
's 'free adaptation' of Nikolai Erdman
Nikolai Erdman
Nikolay Robertovich Erdman was a Soviet dramatist and screenwriter primarily remembered for his work with Vsevolod Meyerhold in the 1920s. His plays, notably The Suicide , form a link in Russian literary history between the satirical drama of Nikolai Gogol and the post-World War II Theatre of the...
's The Suicide
The Suicide (play)
The Suicide is a 1928 play by the Russian playwright Nikolai Erdman. Its performance was proscribed during the Stalinist era and it was only produced in Russia several years after the death of its writer...
.
Anna Mackmin's sister Scarlett Mackmin
Scarlett Mackmin
Scarlett Mackmin is an English choreographer. She trained at the Martha Graham School in New York and at the Laban Centre for Movement and Dance in London...
is a choreographer also working in the London theatre.
Mackmin directed Toby Stephens
Toby Stephens
Toby Stephens is an English stage, television and film actor who has appeared in films in both Hollywood and Bollywood. He is best known for playing megavillain Gustav Graves in the James Bond film Die Another Day , Edward Fairfax Rochester in the BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre and Philip...
as Henry in a revival of Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
's The Real Thing
The Real Thing (play)
The Real Thing is a play by Tom Stoppard, first performed in 1982. It examines the nature of honesty, and its use of a play within a play is one of many levels on which the author teases the audience with the difference between semblance and reality....
at the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
Theatre in London from April through June 2010.