Bill Mitchell (artistic director)
Bill Mitchell (2 December 1951 – 14 April 2017) was the artistic director of Kneehigh Theatre from 1995 until 2002 and created site-specific theatre company Wildworks in 2005.[1]
William John Mitchell was born in Erith, Kent, and educated at Dartford Grammar School. He completed a foundation course at Medway School of Art and studied theatre design at Wimbledon School of Art.[2]
He moved to Cornwall with his wife Sue in 1988 and designed a number of Kneehigh's shows including Tristan and Yseult directed by Emma Rice, The Red Shoes, and A Matter of Life and Death.[2]
In 2006, he was made an honorary Fellow of Falmouth University.[3]
Mitchell won the Best Director award at the Theatre Awards UK in 2011 for The Passion, a joint production between National Theatre Wales and Wildworks. In 2015, Mitchell worked with Lost Gardens of Heligan on a show called 100: The Day Our World Changed to commemorate local people who died in WW1.[3]
Mitchell was diagnosed with cancer in 2015, but continued to work up to his death on Wolf’s Child which was performed at Trelowarren Estate in Cornwall in July 2017.
Productions
- A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings - 2005[4]
- Souterrain - 2006 - 07[5] Performed in Dolcoath Mine Camborne Cornwall[6] and Stanmer Park Brighton[7]
- The Beautiful Journey - 2009 performed in HMNB Devonport Plymouth and Wallsend Newcastle.[8]
- The Enchanted Palace - 2010 until 2012, Kensington Palace London[9]
- The Passion - Port Talbot, South Wales, 2011. In collaboration with Michael Sheen and National Theatre Wales
References
- CDM, Dave (15 April 2017). "Bill Mitchell, Wildwork's critically-acclaimed artistic director, dies aged 65". Cornwall Live. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
- Gardner, Lyn (18 April 2017). "Bill Mitchell obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
- "Bill Mitchell". Falmouth University. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- "Wildworks Theatre Company | Seasalt Stories". Seasaltcornwall.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
- Lyn Gardner (2009-05-27). "Lyn Gardner on Wildworks theatre company's new production The Beautiful Journey | Stage". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
- "Wildworks - complete guide to the Playwright, Plays, Theatres, Agent". Doollee.com. 2010-03-25. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
- "Wildworks | London Theatre Database". Ltdb.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
- Hunter, Victoria. Moving Sites: Investigating Site-Specific Dance Performance. Routledge. p. 349.
- Lyn Gardner (2010-04-13). "Enchanted Palace | Theatre review | Stage". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-07-07.