Kate Hamill


Kate Hamill is an American actress and playwright.
Hamill is known for writing and acting in innovative, contemporary adaptations of classic novels for the stage, including Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice and William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair.
In 2017, The Wall Street Journal named Hamill "Playwright of the Year," and she has been named one of the most-produced playwrights in America for 3 consecutive seasons by American Theatre magazine.

Childhood and education

Hamill grew up in a dairy farmhouse in Lansing, New York,
' or as she puts it, in "a town with more cows than people.". She was "a small, high-energy, highly emotional child" and "grew up in a household that prized reading and literature". Her bedtime reading featured Greek myths and classic novels, including Jane Austen's works.
She received a BFA in acting from Ithaca College.

Career

Kate Hamill is committed to creating stories that are female-centered and feminist. As a playwright, she has a playful and theatrical style that features absurdity while examining social and gender issues. As an actor she "tends to play truth-tellers, oddballs, and misfits: complicated people who color outside the lines."

''Sense and Sensibility''

Hamill's Sense and Sensibility premiered in a short run at New York City's Bedlam Theater Company in November 2014. It had a longer run in 2016 directed by Eric Tucker, also at Bedlam. Hamill played Marianne Dashwood.

''Vanity Fair''

Vanity Fair was produced by Manhattan's Pearl Theater in 2017, with Ms. Hamill playing Becky Sharp.

''Pride and Prejudice''

Hamill's adaptation of Pride and Prejudice premiered at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival in 2017, directed by Amanda Dehnert. The production, in which Hamill and her long-term partner, Jason O'Connell, play the leading roles of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, transferred to Manhattan's Primary Stages.

''Little Women''

In 2019, Hamill's adaptation of Little Women opened at the Cherry Lane Theatre, directed by Sarna Lapine.