Carrie Cracknell

Director

Biography

Carrie became Artistic Director of the Gate Theatre London in 2007 at the age of 26. In 2012 she moved on to become Associate Director at the Young Vic and was then Associate Director at The Royal Court from 2013-14.

In 2019 Carrie directed Seawall/A Life in a double bill at The Hudson Theatre, Broadway after transferring from The Public Theatre in New York, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge, respectively. It received four Tony nominations in total, including for Best Play and for both Gyllenhaal and Sturridge’s performances. She works regularly at the National Theatre where her work includes, Julie starring Vanessa Kirby, The Deep Blue Sea and Medea starring Helen McCrory and Blurred Lines which she created with Nick Payne. Her productions of Julie, The Deep Blue Sea and Medea have all played in cinemas worldwide through NT Live. Her iconic production of A Doll’s House transferred from the Young Vic to the Westend and BAM and was nominated for the Evening Standard Best Director Award. Her first opera, Wozzeck at ENO was nominated for an Olivier award; recently she directed Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Carrie’s recent theatre productions include Portia Coughlan, starring Alison Oliver, at the Almeida, and Grapes of Wrath at the National Theatre.

Her debut feature, an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion for Netflix / MRC starring Dakota Johnson, premiered on Netflix on the 15th July 2022, and she has two further feature films in development.

Credits

Film

Production Company Notes
PERSUASION
2022
Netflix, MRC

Feature adaptation of Jane Austen novel, starring Dakota Johnson and Cosmo Jarvis.

Theatre

Production Company Notes
ARCADIA
2026
Old Vic Theatre

by Tom Stoppard

GRAPES OF WRATH
2024
National Theatre

Adapted by Frank Galati. “refreshingly unsentimental” – The Stage; “Carrie Cracknell’s epic adaptation of John Steinbeck’s modern classic imbues the story with a universal resonance” – inews

PORTIA COUGHLAN
2023
Almeida Theatre

By Marina Carr. “Beautifully bleak” – The Guardian

SEAWALL / A LIFE
2019
Hudson Theatre, New York

Broadway transfer of Simon Stephen’s SEA WALL, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, and Nick Payne’s A LIFE starring Tom Sturridge presented in a double bill

SEAWALL / A LIFE
2019
The Public Theater, New York

Simon Stephen’s SEA WALL, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, and Nick Payne’s A LIFE starring Tom Sturridge presented in a double bill at The Public Theater.

JULIE
2018
National Theatre

By Polly Stenham after Strindberg, World Premiere
“Cracknell’s direction is astonishing.” – The Stage

OIL
2016
Almeida Theatre

By Ella Hickson, World Premiere
“bold, playful and scorchingly ambitious…very well directed by Carrie Cracknell” – The Guardian; “directed with great tonal dexterity by Carrie Cracknell” – The Independent.

THE DEEP BLUE SEA
2016
National Theatre and NT Live

by Terence Rattigan
“Carrie Cracknell directs with total assurance…”The Times
“this splendid new production from Carrie Cracknell is intoxicating…” The Telegraph

MACBETH
2015
A Young Vic, Birmingham Repertory Theatre and HOME co-production

Dir: Carrie Cracknell and Lucy Guerin
“Bold, visceral and topical” – Financial Times; “Stylish and daring” – Evening Standard

MEDEA
2014
National Theatre and NT Live

By Euripides in a version by Ben Power
“Carrie Cracknell’s version is a tragic force to be reckoned with…avoids quasi-operatic grandeur to present us with a recognisable human being who is alive with contradictions” – The Guardian; “This thrilling and merciless production leaves you feeling both appalled and strangely elated” – The Telegraph

BIRDLAND
2014
Royal Court (Downstairs)

By Simon Stephens, World Premiere
“Carrie Cracknell’s production is ceaselessly inventive” – The Guardian; “Carrie Cracknell’s smart production create[s] a world both repellent and seductive in this glittering moral fable for our celebrity-obsessed times” – WhatsOnStage; “There’s a sharp visual language, courtesy of director Carrie Cracknell.” – The Evening Standard

BLURRED LINES
2014
National Theatre

Created by Nick Payne and Carrie Cracknell, World Premiere
“Carrie Cracknell’s show cunningly exposes gender inequality [with]…explosive scenes…niftily staged” – The Guardian
“Has a visceral kick which makes you sit up and think, or rethink.” New York Times

A DOLL'S HOUSE
2014
Brooklyn Academy of Music

New York transfer
“a harrowing account, directed with breathless momentum by Carrie Cracknell.” – New York Times Critic’s Pick

A DOLL'S HOUSE
2013
Duke of York's Theatre

West End transfer
“A shattering production of a classic play…thrilling [and] often savagely funny.” – The Metro

PIGEONS
2013
Royal Court (Downstairs)

By Suhalya El-Bushra in Weekly Rep, World Premiere

SEARCHED
2013
Royal Court: Rough Cuts work in progress

By E.V. Crowe

A DOLL'S HOUSE
2012 – 2013
Young Vic

A new version by Simon Stephens, opening in 2012 and revived in 2013.
Nominated for the Evening Standard Best Director Award 2012
“If you ever see a production of the play, see this one.’ – Sunday Telegraph*****; ‘An intense emotional thriller.’ – Sunday Express*****; “I have never seen a more gripping and emotionally truthful account of Ibsen’s brilliantly plotted and still disturbing play” – Daily Telegraph*****; “A stunning production” – The Stage; “Carrie Cracknell’s fantastically assured production…loyally serves Ibsen’s stark vision” – The Telegraph****; “Carrie Cracknell’s deft production [is] a bracing vision of sacrifice and conscience” – The Evening Standard****

ELECTRA
2011
Gate Theatre/Young Vic

A new version by Nick Payne;
“Nick Payne’s urgent new version of Sophocles’s Electra is another in a long line of boundary-breaking offerings and thus an apt farewell production from Cracknell. For this is not Greek tragedy as Aristotle knew it but an astute study of a deeply disturbed family.” The Evening Standard.

ELEKTRA
2010
Young Vic/Headlong

“an inventive fusion of movement, music and text, creating haunting dreamscapes and evocative imagery that really capture the overwhelming aura of grief permeating this play” – oughttobeclowns.blogspot.co.uk

BREATHING IRREGULAR
2010
Gate Theatre

“deeply ­moving” – The Guardian

HEDDA
2008
Gate Theatre

A new version by Lucy Kirkwood”a Hedda for our times” – The Guardian

I AM FALLING
2008
Gate Theatre then transferred Sadler's Wells

Nominated for a South Bank Show Award (Dance)
“This exquisite miniature is intensely alive, even as it deals in the currency of death.”
“…absorbing… [Carrie Cracknell] creates a geometry that’s rich but uncluttered” – The Independent

THE SEXUAL NEUROSES OF OUR PARENTS by Lukas Barfuss
2007
Gate Theatre

by Lukas Barfuss, British Premiere
“This knotty piece, at once brutal and clinical, is the first under the Gate’s new duo of artistic directors, Carrie Cracknell and Natalie Abrahami. Brave, unsettling and given an inventive, highly physical production by Cracknell, it makes a promising star to the pair’s regime.” – The Times

DEATH AND THE CITY
2005
The Tron Theatre

by Renato Gabrielli, British Premiere

STACY
2005
The National Theatre of Scotland

by Jack Thorne, World Premiere

BROKEN ROAD
2005
Hush / British Council Showcase, BAC

by Ryan Craig, World Premiere
Fringe First Award
“Exceptional stuff, that like the best theatre makes you see the world in a slightly different way.” Metro

A MOBILE THRILLER
2004
Hush / Site Specific for The Traverse, BAC, Harbourfront Toronto, Bristol Old Vic, National Tour & British Council showcase

by Renato Gabrielli, British Premiere
Herald Angel Award
“Delivers a dramatic punch that takes the breath away. An experience too disturbing to forget.” The Scotsman

THE HUSH
2002
Hush / C Venues, Steven Joseph Theatre, BAC, Ohio Theatre New York
THE HUSH
2002
Hush / C Venues, Steven Joseph Theatre, BAC, Ohio Theatre New York

Opera

Production Company Notes
CARMEN
2023 – 2024
Met Opera

“2024’s first unmissable opera” – Observer

WOZZECK
2013
ENO

Olivier nomination for Best New Opera Production
Conducted by Edward Gardner
“Cracknell’s concept is realised with terrific theatrical flair and filled with rich naturalistic detail” – The Daily Telegraph; “This is Carrie Cracknell’s operatic debut; she must be invited back at the earliest opportunity” – Evening Standard; “…[Cracknell’s] staging seeps into your conciousness and won’t let go…an outstanding achievement to which no one can remain indifferent” – The Guardian

Short Films

Production Company Notes
NORA
2012
Guardian/Young Vic/The Space

Directed and co-written with Nick Payne

Carrie Cracknell
Carrie Cracknell
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