Faculty Profiles

Kate Bredeson (she/her) is a theatre historian, translator, director, and dramaturg. Her project as a scholar is to research, write about, and practice the ways in which theatre can be a tool for radical activism and protest. Her books are published by Northwestern University Press: Occupying the Stage: The Theater of May '68 (2018; finalist, George Freedley Award); The Inheritor (2024), her translation with student Thalia Wolff of the Théâtre de l'Aquarium's 1968 play; The Diaries of Judith Malina, volumes 1-4 (2026), and Lamp Back: Plays and Other Grievances by Anthony Hudson (2026). Kate’s research has been supported by fellowships including a Fulbright; grants from the Mellon and Killam Foundations; funding from the Futhermore Foundation and the NEH; and residencies at Loghaven, Vashon Artist Residency, the Camargo Foundation; Tao House; Caldera; the Maison Dora Maar; Mission Street Arts, the Carolyn Moore Writing Residency, New York Mills Artist Residency, and the Rockefeller Center in Bellagio. Kate regularly presents at national and international conferences, and has published essays in journals including PAJ, Theatre Journal, TDR, Theater, Anarchist Developments in Cultural Studies, and books such as The Routledge Anthology of Women’s Theatre Theory and Dramatic Criticism (2023), Postdramatic Theatre and Form (Bloomsbury, 2019), and The Sixties, Center Stage: Mainstream and Popular Performances in a Turbulent Decade (Michigan, 2017). She has served on the Executive Committee and as Vice President for Awards for the American Society for Theatre Research. The relationship between theatre and society is also the focus of her teaching. At Reed, Kate teaches classes including Theatre History I, II, and III; Gender and Theatre; Playwriting; Directing; and Junior Seminar. Kate is a professional dramaturg, and a two-time winner of major prizes from the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas. Since 2016 she has worked as dramaturg with Portland choreographer Tahni Holt. Before coming to Reed, Kate was the Resident Dramaturg at the Court Theatre in Chicago and Lecturer at the University of Chicago. Kate holds an MFA and a doctorate in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism from the Yale School of Drama.

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