Kate Hamill
Originally from the farms and fields of upstate New York, Kate is an award-winning NYC-based actor/playwright. She still knows how to milk a cow – albeit not well (both she and the cow get verrry nervous).
She is deeply passionate about creating new feminist, female-centered classics: 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: complicated people who color outside the lines.
Kate was named 2017’s Playwright of the Year by the Wall Street Journal. Recent plays include Sense and Sensibility (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 (in which she originated the role of Becky Sharp; Nominee, Off Broadway Alliance Award; WSJ Critic’s Pick), Pride and Prejudice (In which she originated the role of Lizzy Bennet; Nominee, Off Broadway Alliance Award; “Best Theater of 2017”, Huffington Post; WSJ Critic’s Pick), In the Mines (Sundance Lab semi-finalist), Little Women, The Scarlet Letter, Mansfield Park, Em (Red Bull New Play finalist), The Prostitute Play (O’Neill semi-finalist). Her plays have been produced off-Broadway, at A.R.T., Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Guthrie Theatre, Seattle Rep, PlayMaker’s Rep, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Dallas Theater Center, Folger Theatre (8 Helen Hayes Award nominations; Winner, best production – S&S) & others. Future productions on the UPCOMING page. Kate’s Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, & Vanity Fair are published by DPS; her Little Women and Mansfield Park both premiere in 2018. She is currently working on an adaptation of The Odyssey (commissioned by A.R.T.) and a new adaptation of The Scarlet Letter, as well as several new original plays – including Love Poem, In The Mines (Sundance Semi-Finalist) The Piper, and Prostitute Play (O’Neill Semi-Finalist). She was one of 2018-2019’s top 5 most-produced playwrights nationally; she was also 2017-2018’s top 10 most-produced playwrights, and wrote one of the top 10 most-produced plays nationally in both 2017-2018 and 2018-2019.