Approaches to understanding and using Katie Mitchell’s Events technique in professional and pedagogical contexts

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article discusses Katie Mitchell’s Events technique. I locate the technique within the Stanislavskian tradition and identify the ways in which it differs from the approach of other practitioners, analysing the advantages and disadvantages of Mitchell’s approach. Katie Mitchell’s significance as a pedagogue of directors and actors in addition to her role as one of Britain’s leading theatre directors is established. Different approaches to identifying and naming Events from practitioners such as Mike Alfreds, Tatiana Olear, Bella Merlin, Elen Bowman, Sam Kogan and Stanislavski himself are considered. I argue for an approach that allows different characters to have Events at different times and that involves giving Events subjective names. I then discuss some practical approaches that I have developed in my professional and pedagogical practice to applying Events in the rehearsal room and the university classroom.