Originally from the farms and fields of upstate New York, Kate is an award-winning NYC-based actor/playwright. She is deeply passionate about creating new feminist, female-centered classics, both in new plays and in adaptation: stories that center around complicated women. Her work as a playwright celebrates theatricality, often features absurdity, and closely examines social and gender issues – as well as the timeless struggle to reconcile conscience / identity with social pressures. As an actor, she tends to play truth-tellers, oddballs, and misfits.
Kate was named 2017’s Playwright of the Year by the Wall Street Journal. She has been one of the 10 most-produced playwrights in the country, 3 seasons running (2017-2020); in both 2017-2018 and 2018-2019, she wrote two of the top 10 most produced plays in the U.S.; many of her plays have been produced internationally. Future productions, including 4 world premieres in 2019/2020: Dracula at Classic Stage Company, Emma at the Guthrie, Prostitute Play at Cygnet Theater, and Scarlet Letter at South Coast Rep. Her previously-produced plays include Sense and Sensibility (Bedlam; in which she originated the role of Marianne) – Winner, Off-Broadway Alliance Award; Nominee, Drama League Award; 265+ performances off-Broadway; “Top Ten Theater of 2014” – Ben Brantley; “the greatest stage adaptation of this novel in history” – Huffington Post. Other plays include Vanity Fair (The Pearl; in which she originated the role of Becky Sharp; Nominee, Off Broadway Alliance Award; WSJ Critic’s Pick), Pride and Prejudice (Primary Stages / HVSF; in which she originated the role of Lizzy Bennet; Nominee, Off Broadway Alliance Award; “Best Theater of 2017”, Huffington Post; WSJ Critic’s Pick), Little Women, Mansfield Park (originated role of Mary Crawford), and Dracula (Classic Stage Company; originated role of Renfield; WSJ Critic’s Pick.)
Her plays have been produced off-Broadway, at A.R.T., Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Guthrie Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Seattle Rep, PlayMaker’s Rep, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Dallas Theater Center, Folger Theatre (8 Helen Hayes Award nominations; Winner, best production) & more. Kate’s Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Vanity Fair, and Little Women are published by DPS. She is currently working on an adaptation of The Odyssey (commissioned by A.R.T.) as well as several new original plays – including Love Poem, In The Mines (Sundance Semi-Finalist; now collaborating with The Bengsons on this piece), Em (Red Bull New Play finalist), the Prostitute Play (O’Neill Semi-Finalist), and The Piper (O’Neill Finalist, PlayPenn Haas Fellow play).
Additional acting credits include: Talley’s Folly (Syracuse Stage; WSJ Critic’s Pick; TheaterMania best productions of 2020) The Seagull (Bedlam; “best classical productions of 2014” – WSJ) Noises Off (Syracuse Stage), The General from America (HVSF), Cyrano (“Outstanding Performance by an Actress”- DFW Critics Awards, Amphibian Stage), Internet Famous (Youngblood), Dreams of A West Texas Marsupial Girl (PearlDamour), All That Fall (Cherry Lane), and more. Numerous independent films that she has performed in have gone on to festival success, including: Clermont Ferrand Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Festival del Film Locarno, Brooklyn Film Festival, Boston Int’l Film Festival, New Orleans Film Festival (Jury Award Finalist), Honolulu Film Festival, Black Maria Film Festival (Stellar Award), etc. Kate has a BFA in Acting, Ithaca College.