Kate is deeply inquisitive, thoughtful, collaborative and gentle. As a dramaturg she has an enormous frame of reference and a deep understanding of form, meaning she is able to speak with incredible specificity to the needs of each individual work. Her playful and rigorous approach to dramaturgy has led to the creation of performance works that have become increasingly conceptually rigorous and considered. And she is beyond a joy to have in the room.
– Julia Croft, theatre maker

I work with story.

Whether that is producing and developing narrative and factual screen or audio content, supporting and challenging screenwriters and theatre makers to unearth and shape their story world, or being an advocate for the deconstructive act of criticism and commentary in the arts, story and audience is what drives my work.

I’m a script consultant, writer, dramaturg, editor, and creative producer based in Tāmaki Makaurau with 20 years experience in the theatre and screen industries.

I’m currently working as Senior Copywriter and Storyteller at creative agency Curative, where, alongside the Creative Director, I drive the essential creative framing of every project that progresses from strategy through to creative. Before this I was working as a Development Executive at Vendetta Productions where I progressed the creative development of a diverse slate of feature film and episodic projects. My work at Vendetta also extended to the distribution arm, Vendetta Films (Cousins), where I was assessing and acquiring domestic and international films for distribution at the opposite end of a film’s journey.

And some of my most meaningful work from 2016-2022 was as Theatre Editor and then Director of arts and culture journal The Pantograph Punch, which captured the life of our theatre, books, and arts industries over the past ten years.

I’ve worked as a dramaturg and script consultant for theatre companies such as Silo Theatre, Basement Theatre, Playmarket, Red Leap, Proudly Asian Theatre, St Martins Youth Arts (Melbourne) and for independent New Zealand artists Julia Croft, Alice Snedden, Rose Matafeo, Alice Canton, and Rutene Spooner. I originally trained (a long time ago!) as an actor at Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School, and I hold a Master of Dramaturgy from the Victorian College of Arts, Melbourne.

As a screenwriter/producer, I created the NZFC-funded short film, Eleven, which was selected to screen at over 15 international festivals including the Berlinale, and won Best Short Film at the New Zealand Film Awards 2014. I went on to write and produce a second NZFC-funded short film, Theodora, and I’m now developing several episodic and feature film projects under my own banner, Skin & Blister Films. 

In 2020, I conceived of, created and produced the NZ on Air-funded podcast Artist in Residence for The Pantograph Punch, a collection of ten 15-minute audio performances from Aotearoa artists to help with one thing the listener may be feeling in the first shock of lockdown.

I’ve worked as an Arts Advisor at Creative New Zealand, a Creative Producer for Notable Pictures, and from 2017-2020 I was Theatre Editor, then Director of prominent arts and culture website, The Pantograph Punch.