ABSTRACT
Katie Mitchell has often been accused of auteurism, an accusation that, this chapter argues, simply expresses a preference for the authority of certain authors (usually male playwrights) over others (in this case, a female director). Close readings of Mitchell’s negative reviews reveal, however, that they frequently hinge upon charges of ‘distraction’. By combining it with Sara Ahmed’s conception of ‘willfulness’, this chapter seeks to mobilise the idea of ‘distraction’ as a way of reading Mitchell’s directorial practice as a series of politically progressive interventions into the theatrical canon. The chapter offers detailed examples from Mitchell’s productions of Lucia di Lammermoor (Royal Opera House, 2016), Fräulein Julie (Schaubühne Berlin, 2010) and The Cherry Orchard (Young Vic, 2014) to show the ways in which Mitchell’s productions distract from the canon’s implicit political agenda and refocus attention on the lives, in particular, of working-class women. The chapter concludes with a brief reflection on Mitchell’s notion of ‘affinity’ and the ways in which it shapes perception. It concludes by observing that, inevitably, Mitchell’s own affinities have shaped her practice and are visible in, for example, the whiteness of her casts by contrast with the ethnically diverse European cities in which she works. Nonetheless, the chapter argues that Mitchell’s tactic of willful distraction remains a viable model for staging canonical works without acquiescing to canonical authority.
