A Question of Vision with Katie Mitchell OBE
About the project
A continuation of the former Brady Lecture series, the Goethe Annual Lecture (GAL) invites renowned speakers to reflect on cultural themes central to the Goethe-Institut’s work and pressing issues facing the UK, Germany, and beyond.
For the 2023 GAL, the Goethe-Institut welcomed acclaimed director Katie Mitchell OBE as the guest speaker. With a 30-year career and over 100 productions across theatre, opera and ‘live cinema’, Mitchell is widely recognised for her innovative approach. She has worked extensively in the UK and across Europe, particularly in Germany, where her productions have been staged at the Schaubühne Berlin (Miss Julie, Orlando) and the Deutsches SchauSpielHaus Hamburg (Travellers on One Leg), among others.
In her lecture, Mitchell examined the differences between theatre-making in the UK and Germany and discussed the influence of feminist perspectives on her work. The event concluded with a Q&A session moderated by Dr Ben Fowler, Senior Lecturer at the University of Sussex.
Project responsibilities:
Communications, budget planning, and digital content production
From June 2021 to December 2024, I worked within the Goethe-Institut London’s Communications team. As Online Editor, I managed the UK’s website, social media, editorial budgets, and digital strategies. For the flagship annual event, I oversaw the entire digital production cycle, from strategy and budget planning to post-event content publication.
In the early planning phases, I used data tools such as Webtrekk, Meta Business Suite, and Eventbrite Analytics to compile reports evaluating the performance of previous GAL marketing campaigns and digital content. These findings shaped budget allocation and digital strategy for the upcoming event. I also coordinated with partner organisations on cross-promotional initiatives and compiled audience demographic reports that informed communications and content planning.
Once event details were confirmed, I built the event webpage in our custom CMS and devised cross-platform content to promote the lecture. I led all marketing campaigns across newsletters and social media, preparing tailored content to maximise engagement and ticket sales.
My production tasks included collating event texts, speaker biographies, and visual materials; adapting them to our editorial brand guidelines; translating English-language copy into German; publishing content across digital platforms; and distributing media packs to stakeholders.
During the event, I managed community engagement on livestream chats and social media and coordinated the videographer. Post-event, I worked with the videographer to prepare transcripts, ensured content aligned with editorial standards, published the recording on YouTube, promoted it via social media, and processed invoices for advertisements, social media boosts, and commissioned content.
Through this end-to-end process, I ensured the GAL consistently reached wide and diverse audiences while maintaining the Institute’s brand and editorial standards.