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Anna Mackmin

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Anna Mackmin (born 1964) is a British theatre director. She has been an associate director at the Sheffield Crucible and at the Gate Theatre in London.[1]

Early life and education

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Mackmin was born in Leeds.[1] Mackmin's sister, Scarlett Mackmin, is a choreographer also working in London theatre.

In the mid-1980s, Mackmin attended the Central School of Speech and Drama, studying acting.

Career

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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.

Mackmin was friends with the actress and writer Charlotte Jones, and it was Jones' first play, Airswimming, that provided Mackmin with her directorial debut in 1997.[2] Later, in 2003, 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, earning her the 2004 TMA Award for best director.

Mackmin has worked repeatedly 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 plays Mammals and Di and Viv and Rose, together with her adaptation of Ibsen's Ghosts.[3]

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. She then directed Toby Stephens in a revival of Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing at London's Old Vic Theatre from April through June 2010, and, at the same venue in 2012, Sheridan Smith in Hedda Gabler.

Her own first play, Back Stroke, directed by herself, was staged at the Donmar Warehouse in 2025, starring Tamsin Greig and Celia Imrie.

Screen acting credits

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Plays directed

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Bibliography

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  • Devoured (Propolis, 2018)[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b Barnett, Laura (15 February 2010). "Portrait of the artist: Anna Mackmin, director". The Guardian.
  2. ^ Gardner, Lyn (2 February 2004). "Anna Mackmin, one of Britain's hottest theatre directors". The Guardian.
  3. ^ "New Voices Club Events - The Real Thing" (PDF). Old Vic Theatre. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
  4. ^ Spencer, Charles (12 February 2004). "When a flawed classic becomes a must-see". The Telegraph.
  5. ^ Billington, Michael (16 March 2006). "Burn/Chatroom/Citizenship, National, London". The Guardian.
  6. ^ "The Real Thing, Tom Stoppard, 10 Apr–05 Jun" (PDF). The Old Vic. 2010.
  7. ^ Cavendish, Dominic (28 August 2012). "Sheridan Smith and Anna Mackmin on Hedda Gabler". The Telegraph.
  8. ^ "Devoured - Anna Mackmin". Foyles. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
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