Dissatisfied with her acting career, she became a
clothing designer at one point and set up a business with her sister in London's
Soho. Mackmin was friends with the actress and writer
Charlotte Jones, and it was Jones' first play,
Airswimming, that provided Mackmin with her directorial debut in 1997. Later, in 2003,
Michael Grandage offered her the position of associate director at the Crucible Theatre in
Sheffield. There she scored notable successes with
Arthur Miller's
The Crucible and
Caryl Churchill's
Cloud Nine, earning her the 2004
TMA Award for best director. Mackmin has worked repeatedly with Charlotte Jones since their joint debut, directing Jones' plays
In Flame,
The Dark and
The Lightning Play. She has also collaborated several times with
Amelia Bullmore, whom she originally directed as an actress in
The Crucible in 2004. Since then, she has directed Bullmore's plays
Mammals and
Di and Viv and Rose, together with her adaptation of Ibsen's
Ghosts. In 2006, Mackmin staged an acclaimed triple-bill at the
National Theatre, entitled
Burn/Chatroom/Citizenship. In the spring of 2007, she again won plaudits, this time for her direction of
Dying for It,
Moira Buffini's 'free adaptation' of
Nikolai Erdman's
The Suicide. She then directed
Toby Stephens in a revival of
Tom Stoppard's
The Real Thing at London's
Old Vic Theatre from April through June 2010, and, at the same venue in 2012,
Sheridan Smith in
Hedda Gabler. Her own first play,
Back Stroke, directed by herself, was staged at the
Donmar Warehouse in 2025, starring
Tamsin Greig and
Celia Imrie. Woman’s Hour: Olivier award-winning actors Celia Imrie and Tamsin Greig joined Nuala McGovern in the Woman’s Hour studio. Celia spoke to Nuala about her relationship with her mother and how she wishes she’d savoured the time with her more. You can listen to the full interview on the BBC Sounds app - it’s the Woman’s Hour episode from 25 February. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00289p0 Backstroke was the Radio Times play of the year 2025 Reviews: ★★★★ “Anna Mackmin’s witty, heartfelt and immaculately acted portrait of a lifelong mother-daughter relationship” Theatre Cat ★★★★ "Celia Imrie is mesmerising … Tamsin Greig also delivers a wonderful performance in Anna Mackmin’s ferociously unsentimental play" The Times ★★★★ “Stays with you long after you leave the theatre behind” Radio Times ★★★★ “An extraordinary play about a mother and daughter relationship” The Arts Desk == Screen acting credits ==