The British opera and theater director Katie Mitchell has announced that she has decided to retire from the opera industry, largely because of its pervasive sexism and misogyny.

In an interview with The Times, Mitchell stated that "across the 30 or so operas [she has] directed, I have never had a working process free of sexism."

She was careful to emphasize that the day-to-day sexism she is referring to is distinct from sexual harassment.

"The sexism can sometimes be mild (like being asked daily by a répétiteur, ‘Are you a happy girl now?’) or it can be intense, like being screamed at for an artistic choice that someone does not like," Mitchell said. "I know this would not be the case if I were male. On one occasion, I even had furniture thrown at me."

Mitchell also noted that the field of opera has been comparatively slow to come to terms with the sexism inherent in its content, adding that in the theater world, the vast majority of operatic libretti simply would not be staged.

Her final opera will be Janáček’s The Makropulos Case, which will have its season at the Royal Opera House in November 2025.

Mitchell is a former Associate Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre, and the Royal Court and is a resident director at the Schaubuhne Berlin and the Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hamburg. Previously she was resident director at the Aix-en-Provence Festival and in 2015, the Stadsschouwburg Theatre in Amsterdam presented a retrospective of her work. She has won numerous awards for her directing, as well as an OBE.

When asked what would induce her to change her mind, Mitchell said "a systemic revolution. Very simply, I would like to be certain that I’m safe at work."