KATE BERGSTROM
director + artistic director + culture shaper
reviews + press
Denmo Ibrahim in Noura at Marin Theatre Company
RECENT:
"Director Kate Bergstrom works some magic here, allowing some modern witticisms to break through the dark tale, and her casting choices are inspired ones...."
-Will Demers, There's Much To Love in Trinity's 'A Christmas Carol,' EDGE Media Network
"Trinity Repertory Company's production of 'A Christmas Carol' is different every year, but this year's iteration is so very different- in wonderful ways.... (This) Scrooge joins the ranks of the all-time best- as does the entire production. The vision starts with director Kate Bergstrom...(who) never loses sight of the emotions or message. She is supported by an inspired creative team...(the show is) eerie in all the right spots, and unfailingly entertaining."
-Kathie Raleigh, Trinity Rep puts another fresh spin on classic, The Call
"To begin with, Heather Raffo’s “Noura” is an extraordinary play in every respect, and it is given an extraordinary production at Marin Theatre Company. To watch it is to observe an avalanche of excellence, from the dazzling ensemble cast to the outstanding design work of Adam Rigg (sets), Anna Oliver (costumes), Kate Boyd (lighting) and Nihan Yesil (sound), as well as the carefully calibrated direction of Kate Bergstrom."
- "FIVE-STAR" review from Charles Kruger, Theatrestorm.com
"Guided into a powerful, cohesive whole by director, Kate Bergstrom, with a strong cast, Noura allows us to profoundly understand the enormous struggles that all refugees face, from a female vantage point. Highly recommended."
- "HIGHLY RECOMMENDED" Review by Hannah Yurke Ronnie's Awesome List
Higdon and the MAW team brought a panoply of resources to bear on this tragic theme of American entrapment, including a spectacular set by François-Pierre Couture, brilliant lighting, costumes, and projections, and a large chorus and cast superbly directed by James Darrah and Kate Bergstrom.
- Cold Mountain, Opera Review by Charles Donelan for the Independent
CURATION:
“Explosions from the Other Canon” burst onto the scene Friday and Saturday night at the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts. The eclectic collection of shows was curated by Kate Bergstrom GS, a graduate student from the Trinity/Brown program.
The performances were consciously alternative, deliberately daring and invariably powerful. Actors or curators themselves chose pieces that stood for something outside the ordinary. This was a show with a mission: to explode the traditional Western cannon with counter-narratives, Bergstrom said.
The show strove to embrace the idea of the interdisciplinary. “Explosions from the Other Canon” counters the idea that artists need to restrict themselves to merely being a painter, actor, musician or director. “The eclectic group of artists and audience interacting with one another is in and of itself a counter-narrative to the very rigid forms that we are placed under in an institution,” Bergstrom said."
“Bergstrom delivers a whirlwind of a show, with a spirit and precision worthy of Monty Python or the Marx Brothers…Equally accessible to aficionados and casual fans of Hitchcock’s films, “The 39 Steps” is a must-see show that’s bursting with comic exuberance and imaginative stagecraft.”
- Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Loaded with inventive stagecraft that uses the entire theater as a canvas, The Repertory Theatre of St Louis' The 39 Steps is a raucous, laugh-out-loud experience… At a time when the world needs laughter, The 39 Steps is a welcome respite. Crisply directed by Kate Bergstrom with scenic design by Stephanie Osin Cohen, The Rep's season finale gives audiences a hilarious romp that celebrates the frivolous with a barrage of slapstick fun from start to finish. Murder has never been this much fun!"
-Rob Levy, BroadwayWorld
It's A Wonderful Life: The Radio Play ASF & The Rep
"It all comes together seamlessly under Bergstrom’s precise direction of a first-rate cast."
-Mark Bretz, Review: Ladue News "The Rep's Production of It's A Wonderful Life: The Live Radio Play Delights Audiences"
"... fun changes should rob the story of much of its main strength — its heart and emotion... amazingly, it doesn’t.
“It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” never allows us to forget that we are watching actors in a production.The acting is excellent, as is Bergstrom’s direction. William DeMeritt, Madeleine Lambert, Evan Andrew Horwitz, Jimmy Kieffer and Cassandra Lopez are a superb ensemble cast, making each of the scores of characters they play both believable and affecting."
- Rick Harmon,Review: ASF Creates "Wonderful" adaptation of Christmas Classic, Montgomery Advertiser.
“Exuberantly staged by Kate Bergstrom...the production is a marathon of witticisms and fresh vivacity… Her leads play a dozen or so characters seamlessly, excavating beyond common young adult tropes to hit on a deeply authentic resonance around the complexities of best friendship.”
-Natalie Rine, Onstage Blog NY
"...exquisitely performed...Kate Bergstrom Directs... (Cortesi's) comedy, a gorgeously tart meditation on questions such as Should you let a cute boy demagnetize your ethical compass? The answer makes your needle spin."
-Helen Shaw, Vulture
Noura
"[Denmo Ibrahim] has long been a tower of strength in the Bay Area theater scene, but 'Noura' showcases her powers at still loftier heights... In Heather Raffo’s shattering drama, directed with uncommon sensitivity and discernment by Kate Bergstrom...revelations of secrets pile up, and characters speak as if they expect their lines to resound off cliffs, across oceans: “It’s the weight of being erased”; “Forgive her inability to see how much you need to love her...In lesser hands, such moments might look cheesy or overwrought, but Bergstrom more than justifies them. Noura’s family needs to talk that way because the whole world keeps being at stake, in a new way, with each beat.”
- "LEAPING MAN" review from Lily Janiak, San Francisco Chronicle
"Trinity Rep pulls out all the stops in this year's re-imagining of the traditional Dickens tale and succeeds beautifully in giving a fresh, new, fun look to the timeworn tale. There's everything you could wish for in this holiday production: fine acting, terrific direction, marvelous dancing, fabulous costumes, great singing, gorgeous music, splendid sets, howling winds, clunking chains, smoke and mist, a flying bed, snow, humor, charm, fun, surprises, adorable children, laughter, silliness and lots of hope and goodwill. You'll leave the theater with joy in your heart — and probably humming or singing "Joy to the World." Thank you Kate Bergstrom for directing a show so full of heart, magic and good cheer.
... ready or not. It's triumphant."
-Nancy Burns-Fusaro, Trinity Pulls Out All The Stops in This Years Carol, The Westerly Sun
"And this year, after more than four decades, the company has put a fresh spin on this beloved seasonal favorite like never before. Jude Sandy's take on cantankerous Ebenezer Scrooge will make you laugh, make you cry, and bring home the spirit of this magical holiday that has lost so much to commercial trappings...Lynch and director Kate Bergstrom creating stunning images drawn in light and shadow to create arresting shapes. The billowing white train on the gown of the Ghost of Christmas Past covers half the audience."
-Channing Gray, A Fresh and Entertaining Spin on Trinity's A Christmas Carol, The Providence Journal
"Director Kate Bergstrom mines all the comic pathos from the script, allowing each woman to reveal her true self slowly, like a sweater unraveling or spring unwinding. She perfectly paces the two-act romance, allowing it to be sweet but never overly sentimental."
- Judy Harrison, Bangor Daily News (Enchanted April, July 2018)
"Directed by Kate Bergstrom...the coolest part of this piece's theatricality is the carefully crafted blocking...discussions happen swiftly--and often simultaneously--and feature rotating participants, demanding careful timing and choreography, achieved with grace...There's great chemistry between the characters, and seemingly endless sources of personality conflict, making At The Table sly and witty, with a sustained level of tension."
--Maggie Yates, BroadwayWorld.com (At the Table, August 2017)
Reviews/Press Continued:
Review/coverage
AT THE TABLE (2017 Best Play in the central coast award Broadwayworld.com)
I’M ALIVE YOU BASTARDS AND ALWAYS WILL BE
FIVE WOMEN WEARING THE SAME DRESS
Sometimes the Rain wins a Dorry for best new play 2018