Carrie Cracknell

Carrie Cracknell is a British theatre and film director whose work has become a staple of contemporary stagecraft. Born on 15 October 1980 in Carlisle and raised in Oxford, she first immersed herself in the performing arts while studying history at the University of Nottingham, where she also served as president of the Nottingham New Theatre and co‑founded the production company Hush with future star Ruth Wilson. After completing a directing programme at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Crackell trained at the National Theatre, laying the groundwork for a career marked by bold reinterpretations and cross‑disciplinary collaborations. At the remarkably young age of twenty‑six she was appointed artistic director of London’s Gate Theatre alongside Natalie Abrahami, becoming the youngest artistic director of a professional theatre in Britain; during her five‑year tenure she staged daring productions such as I Am Falling (which transferred to Sadler’s Wells and earned a South Bank Show Award nomination) and a critically acclaimed A Doll’s House that travelled from the Young Vic to the West End, Brooklyn Academy of Music and garnered an Evening Standard Best Director nomination. Her subsequent roles as associate director of the Young Vic (2012‑2013) and the Royal Court (2013‑2014) saw her deepen her engagement with new writing, producing works like Birdland and Pigeons while also venturing into opera with a lauded staging of Berg’s Wozzeck for English National Opera, nominated for both an Olivier Award and an International Opera Award. In 2019 Crackell directed the powerful two‑hander Sea Wall/A Life at The Public Theater and on Broadway, a production that earned four Tony nominations, including Best Play and two nominations for lead actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge. Today she is a frequent collaborator with the Royal National Theatre, directing live‑streamed events such as The Grapes of Wrath, Medea, A Deep Blue Sea and a fresh rendition of Miss Julie titled Julie. Her debut feature film, the Netflix adaptation of Persuasion, expands her artistic reach into cinema, confirming her status as a versatile and influential voice shaping both stage and screen.