Katie Mitchell states that theatre isn't about doing plays, but about representing human behaviour. And that behaviour is conveyed mainly by what is seen, not what is said.

Katie Mitchell on Pains of Youth

Katie Mitchell is an English theatre director and an Associate of the National Theatre. She has been described as "the closest thing the British theatre has to an auteur". Her career started at the Kings Head Theatre, progressing to Paines Plough and the RSC. Her productions have been described as "distinguished by the intensity of the emotions, the realism of the acting, and the creation of a very distinctive world".  This collection offers an insight into Katie Mitchell’s processes. It features video exploring her approach to mixed media productions Waves and …some trace of her as well as films about her recent devised productions of Beauty and the Beast and Hansel and Gretel.