Dido’s life on camera

This technique will create a multi-layered, intriguingly fragmented piece for audiences to focus on. ‘What came as a complete revelation to me when I started working on this was that the opera is broken, like a vase — there are missing pieces. We’re missing a prologue, two sections right in the middle, at the end of act two, and we’re missing an epilogue. If Purcell had written all the music it wouldn’t have been the short, concentrated piece that we’re used to, that we find so powerful; it would have been considerably longer. If you look at the text for the prologue alone, that would have been at least 20 minutes, maybe half-an-hour of music. That’s given us an opportunity — there are gaps for us to slip into. And we’re doing that with the guidance of the conductor, Christian Curnyn, making sure that the interpolations are made very sensitively so that they support the existing musical structures.’

Katie Mitchell, seen by many as a lone auteur, an interventionist, uses the word ‘we’ with great frequency. She is, in fact, a team-player, someone who has established a group of creative collaborators with whom she works on a regular basis. As a result, she offers a working environment in which performers can, thrillingly, feel supported and free both to take and relish artistic risks.

After Dido is at the Young Vic from 15 April. Box Office: 020 7922 2922.