About Me
Playwright
Kate Isabel Foley holds a B.A. in English and Theater, with distinguished honors, from Ursinus College and an MFA in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon University. Her undergraduate distinguished honors research, “Adapting the Classics: Making the Invisible Visible”, involved the completion of two plays: Pride & Prejudice at Pemberley College, a contemporary, queer adaptation of Jane Austen’s much-loved classic, and Captain Darling, a dark reimagining of Peter Pan in which Mrs. Darling takes center stage and must decide how far she will go to save her children from a surprising foe. Captain Darling had its world premiere in 2024 at the Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center in Collegeville, Pennsylvania.
Jo Van Gogh–the story of the woman responsible for solidifying Vincent van Gogh’s legacy–enjoyed a workshop and staged reading at City Theatre as part of its 2025 Momentum Festival in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania before going on to win the Jane Chambers Student Playwriting contest in 2026. Jo Van Gogh was also named a "Second Rounder" (a distinction granted to only 25% of submitted scripts) in the Austin Film Festival's Stage Play Competition (2026).
As a playwright, Kate’s work features everything from intimate family dramas, to sweeping fantasy adventures, to detailed portraits of underrepresented historical figures. A “typical Kate play” involves complex internal worlds, large ensembles, and a heavy dose of magic.
Kate is an avid television fan, particularly when it comes to series that contain fast-paced dialogue, found family, ensemble casts, slow-burn romances, and life-or-death stakes (whether in the form of murder mysteries, monster hunting, or impossible surgical operations). If a series is written by Shonda Rhimes, John Wells, or Eric Kripke, Kate is sure to be tuning in week after week.
Kate’s drama pilot script She Did It was an Austin Film Festival (2026) semifinalist (one of 2% selected) in the Drama Teleplay and AMC 1-Hour Pilot categories. She Did It was also a Quarterfinalist in the Final Draft Big Break Competition.
In film, Kate loves slice-of-life stories, deeply psychological themes, and bittersweet or ambiguous endings. Kate’s screenplay Beneath the Surface won her a third-place award in the Alfred P. Sloan Script Competition (2025) for the best screenplay or pilot furthering the public understanding of science and technology. Beneath the Surface was also named a Second Rounder in the Austin Film Festival Drama Feature category (2025), a distinction granted to only 20% of submitted scripts.
Kate was the recipient of the Carnegie Mellon University West Coast Drama Alumni Community Award in 2026, presented to the student who “shows the most promise in their chosen field.”
Screenwriter
Novelist
During her undergraduate studies, Kate minored in Creative Writing and was the recipient of The Dolman Prize for Outstanding Creative Writing Portfolio (2023), an award that "honors the Ursinus College Senior of any major whose portfolio of creative writing in any genre or combination of genres is deemed outstanding by a distinguished judge."
To advance her creative writing career, Kate applied to and was accepted into the prestigious Author Mentor Match Program. She was selected from a pool of 1,700 applications where fewer than 5% of applicants were chosen as mentees for Round 8. With the guidance of her mentor, Kate revised her Young Adult novel Once Upon a Stage to completion. Kate is also a contributor to several anthologies, including Ghost Light, her collection of poetry written entirely during quarantine.
In all her creative work, Kate strives to give voice to the voiceless, to bring magic to the everyday, and to craft the queer narratives she wished she had as a teen.
