Kate Mansi
on believing in yourself, hope, and the way Proof encapsulates it all
I went into my conversation with Kate Mansi expecting to talk about her role in David Auburn’s Proof. I didn’t expect to hang up the call with the proof I needed to continue my run of EMDR therapy. Kate is playing Catherine in Proof, a character she first met at nineteen, when she performed the monologue for school auditions. Years later, she’s in communion with the character again but on stage in her first theater run, and learning to let her performance be informed by the moment. We talk about that, and about being believed, and about the little bird on your shoulder that keeps asking if you’re a fraud. Somewhere in there I admitted I was two sessions into EMDR and ready to quit. Kate told me that wanting to quit is usually a sign you’re close to something. The run just wrapped on November 8th, but I suggest you read the play. I’m going to. — Cariann, 2026 ◇
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Cariann Bradley: I have a lot going on with work, but this is the highlight of my day, so I’m thriving.
Kate Mansi: Well, mine, too, because I’ve been chasing you down! It’s so crazy. You know this. You did an interview—I think it was like what, two years ago now? Or three years ago? Something like that—and I sent it to Ashton before she had heard of you guys and I was like, “This chick is doing some really amazing, raw interviews with women and I love it.” And then you guys went away and I was so sad! So then, when this came back around, Ashton was like, “Guess what? They’re back.” I was so happy and you guys have grown so much. So, congrats.
Cariann: Thank you! That’s so kind. Which interview was it?
Kate: It’s so funny. I knew you were going to ask me that and I was thinking this morning. I was like, “Fuck, I can’t even remember.” It was a singer. She had dark hair and all I remember is—I don’t remember what the angle of the article was—it was at a time when I was going through, personally, I was going through my divorce right after COVID. I also had just frozen my eggs because I have endometriosis. And I remember something about that article spoke to me. She was a singer and she had dark hair. Like almost black hair.
Cariann: It might have been Bishop Briggs.
Kate: Yes, it was! Yeah, that’s who it was. And I don’t even remember what it was about or if I just intuited it as like this is speaking to me, but it was just wonderful. And it’s so amazing that you do all your own interviews anyway. So, I’m so happy you’re back. Congrats.
Cariann: Thank you. Thank you so much. It’s so kind. Honestly, usually we’re the people that are pestering people like, “Hey, can we get an interview?” So, the fact that you wanted to talk to us is really an honor and a privilege.
Kate: No, it’s amazing. I majored in PR before I was an actor at Pepperdine and I just have so much respect for—of course, everybody wants the big flashy things—the fact that you like, I don’t know what happened, but the fact that you guys came back and came back so strong is incredible. So, that obviously just speaks to your talent.
Cariann: Thank you. Yeah, I took a break because I got laid off. I don’t get paid for l’Odet. I just… like I’m working my nine-to-five right now and I’m on my lunch break. Like yeah, I’m kind of at the whim of what I’m able to do, right? And when we relaunched…
Kate: Are you a therapist? It looks like you’re in a therapist's office.
Cariann: [Laughs] No, I’m not a therapist.
Kate: Oh my gosh. It looks like—this feels like a very calming therapist office. [Laughs]
Cariann: Thank you, girl. I need my therapist. [Laughs]
Kate: Um, same. I just spoke to her this morning! [Laughs]
Cariann: Yeah, I have my appointment on Friday, but I relaunched in January and my friend Kass is helping; we’re co-running it now. So the balance is kind of split which I think really helps. We just want to kind of keep it as like no ads, no pay walls, nothing, you know?
Kate: You're getting great talent. It’s amazing.
Cariann: We’re so excited to speak with you too because I know you had reached out and [Ashton] mentioned your endometriosis and egg freezing journey. Is that something that's still present for you?
Kate: Well, yes, but actually I just scheduled my endometriosis surgery. It’s my second one. But it’s so funny, like I’m very excited to get that next step. I found a doctor, a specialist, who’s amazing, Dr. Aliabadi is her name, and I had always said I’m never going to do another excision surgery—like, they come back. Do you know anything about endo or are you familiar with it?
Cariann: I have some friends who have it but feel free to overexplain because I can always be more educated.
Kate: It comes back so frequently and so, for me, I was like, it’s not worth putting—any time you put your body through surgery, obviously you’re creating more scar tissue, more stressful situations that your body’s recovering under and so if, for me, I was like, if it’s going to come back, I don’t need to do that again. But it’s interesting because I went to see Dr. Aliabadi finally because I was in so much pain with my endometriosis. And even walking into the appointment, I remember I called my husband and I was like, “No, it’s not that bad. I’m just going to tell her like, I don’t know why I made this appointment. Like, it’s totally fine. I'm doing fine. I don’t need to.” And I said that in the room and she was like, “This is what women do. We gaslight ourselves out of the situation that we’re in because we’re trying to just keep the peace.” And she was like, “It’s enough that you feel any sort of pain at all and I am confident that I can bring more of a sense of normalcy to your life.”
I remember I got so emotional in her office because you really don’t realize and I do think as women we are sort of conditioned to carry a lot of that weight on our own of like, nope everything’s fine. So anyway, I just found so much trust and confidence in her that I decided to move forward. So, I'll be doing that in December, which I’m excited about.
Cariann: Oh my gosh. Well, I’ll be thinking of you. That’s, I mean, it’s exciting, but it’s also, I would imagine, nerve-wracking.
Kate: Yeah. I think it’s nerve-wracking again as we gaslight ourselves, but it’s nerve-wracking also because you’re like, “What if she does this surgery and she finds out I’ve been lying this whole time and I don’t have endometriosis and there’s nothing in there and I’ve been making it up.” And then you’re like, “Wait, that’s insane.” Like, I obviously do. And then, you know, there’s the fear of, well, I’m afraid to attach myself to hope that it will get better because what if it doesn’t? That’s a scary thing. But no, she’s the best of the best. She’s incredible and I feel fortunate to have found her and to be able to do this.
Cariann: Yeah. I’ve honestly been thinking about that—what you mentioned—I get that a lot and I think maybe it’s like OCD tendencies or something, but like… this might not even be relevant, but I met someone in person recently who I work with. I work a remote job, so I don’t get to see them every day, and I was traveling to the city that one of my co-workers lives in and I was like, “Let’s hang out.” And as I was leaving, I was just thinking, “Was I nice enough? Was I good enough?” Like, what if I just fooled this person? Do you get that?
Kate: Yes, of course! It’s funny because as an actor, that impostor syndrome, especially when you’re trying something new, which I’ve obviously—I’m doing a play, which is something I’ve never done before. So, I’m having to sort of battle, not as much now that we’re in our run, but I’ve battled that a lot of like what if they find out I’m not a real actor? And you’re like, no, I've had so much experience. This is a new genre of work for me, but I have to constantly tell myself, “No, I deserve to be here.” And also, I have permission to learn something new, you know? That’s also something I don’t think we give ourselves. But yes, that bird on your shoulder constantly that’s chirping like that; just awareness, hyper-awareness is really hard and you have to shut it out and run from it like a burning building because it’s the worst for us.
Cariann: Yeah, I have that bird. It’s a really evil fucking bird. [Laughs]
Kate: Yeah, it really is an evil fucking bird! Also, I don’t know if this is like something to look into. I’m such an advocate for mental health, but you mentioned OCD. I always thought, am I OCD? Am I not? And I talked to my personal therapist about—sorry this is unrelated to what we’ll be talking about but she was like OCD doesn’t manifest just in… I had to learn it’s also OCPD which is obsessive compulsive personality disorder, where it’s literally just the obsessive patterns of thinking in your brain. The way that you think and process, not necessarily in an action that you can point to that’s like, I have OCD because I do X, Y, and Z before I leave the house or this abstract thing.
Cariann: Yeah, I definitely will look into that. I’m on an interesting therapy journey which I know the play you’re doing kind of deals with mental health and so I’d be interested to hear about that. You’re playing Catherine, right?
Kate: Yes, I am. Do you know [Proof] or have you read it?
Cariann: I’m not familiar with the play, but I read that you've done this before at nineteen. You did her monologue.
Kate: Oh, yeah. I did her monologue just by myself when I was auditioning for schools and everything. I read the play, saw the movie, and saw the play, and was really moved by it. But I had never done the play before. This is my first time doing it, but the character when I was nineteen and was first introduced to her; [Catherine] really spoke to me because of so many different things. It’s a daughter who’s really close with her father and they’re so alike in so many ways and I have that and can relate. There are so many incredible things in this play. I can’t say enough good things about David Auburn, the playwright, but themes of mental health, mental stability. The biggest one being the theme of what’s inherited through your family and what’s yours to take on or not. It’s so crazy to think this, but back then even the way… the reason he wrote this play was because he was so sick of women not being believed and not being heard. And I think that’s why, twenty years later or something, it is so relevant and why it always strikes such a chord. And I think for Catherine particularly, it’s so painful for her to not be believed within the scope of like her own family or the people closest to her and the people that she trusts the most because of the lens they’re looking at her through; of her father’s mental illness, and how that might be something that she’s inherited.
It’s a very layered play, a very layered character. It just really spoke to me at a young age and I never thought of doing theater. It never occurred to me that I would ever do this. And then I had this opportunity come along and I was like, I don’t know, we’ll see. And it is just, it’s one of the great privileges of my life and of my career that I’ve been able to circle back to this character that I’ve loved so much and was so important in my life at such an important time. That I’m getting the opportunity to play her now at a time when I’ve grown so much. I think I have more depth now, I understand her and everyone else in the play so much more, you know, it’s given me a greater well to pull from, if you will.
Cariann: Yeah. It’s so interesting that it spoke to you when you were so young and it was almost like a premonition in a way.
Kate: Oh my god, I loved this play. I was obsessed with this play. I remember I saw the movie and then my mom took me to Samuel French and we got the play, back when it was Samuel French, and this was sort of my first… I mean, my mom has been in theater and so I was raised around it my whole life but I never really was drawn towards doing theater so it never occurred to me that I would play her, and, obviously, they’re never going to make a remake of the movie. So, it just never occurred to me that I would come back to Catherine that way. I think also, back then it was 2005 , I think, when it was out or 2001, something like that, but people weren’t really talking about mental health that way then, so, it’s such a different scope now. I think it’s one of the things we can look at and be grateful that there’s been so much progress. There's still a ways to go, but you know, back then things were so black and white. It was like you’re depressed, pull yourself up by the bootstraps and they just we just didn’t talk about it as much back then, right?
Cariann: Well, I want to touch on [how] theater is such an interesting medium to me and I don’t feel very connected to it. I don’t see a lot of productions and I don’t really have a place where I [can do that].
Kate: Are you in Nashville? Remind me.
Cariann: I used to be, but now I’m in Pittsburgh.
Kate: Oh, okay. Cool.
Cariann: And theater is so interesting because it’s like this really concentrated experience for the people in the room on one specific night. Whereas like now, what people are most affected by are like what millions of people can stream.
Kate: Yeah. And it’s so tailored and so it’s just, it’s so different. You’re right. And also in that same token, it really is a living breathing experience that the audience is a part of. It is sort of that give and take and it’s so different. I mean the energy is really like a moving, breathing, living thing throughout the [play]; you’re, as a character, going through this journey and also the two-hour experience of doing this journey with the audience is its own experience, too.
Cariann: Does it feel different on some given nights? Does the audience give different energy?
Kate: Totally. Every night is different. We have a lot of like two-show days and it’s different from matinée to evening. That’s one of the things that I’ve learned to love and learned to appreciate, but that did take me a lot of time because, coming from a film and TV background, I was really frustrated with myself and wanted to—I was like chasing the previous performance; sort of like, well this felt so true and real and I want to like recreate what that was. In TV and film, I had just recently started directing and looking at things from that [angle] and writing and producing. And my husband’s a producer, so I really see things in a different way. But by the time we receive [the] content that we’re absorbing, it’s so…controlled and it’s fed to us in a way that is so specific, so you have the ability, especially as an actor, to really be in control of the take and the story that you’re telling. And then in the editing process, you have that same ability. It’s really gone through all these different—you can say like, “I like this take better because it’s showing this arc.” You really make a movie three times in the process and that final time is in post.
And so when you’re on stage, it’s so different and the train leaves the station and you just have to really jump off and let go. And so, for me doing something that is completely new to me, something I’ve never done before, it did take me a while to sort of appreciate and enjoy the fact that it wasn’t going to be the same every night. Does that make sense?
Cariann: Yeah. I mean, definitely. ‘Cause I feel like, as artists, like I’m a writer. I’m trying to be a writer and it’s like—
Kate: No, you’re a writer. Let’s revise that.
Cariann: [Laughs] I’m a perfectionist, you know? The only time I feel good is when I’ve just written, which is like a common saying. I don’t feel good when I’m writing or when I need to write. I feel good when I’ve just written. Sometimes the next day I’m terrified to open my computer ‘cause what if I can’t get there? What if I can’t get there again?
Kate: Yeah. I so understand that feeling and it’s so scary and so frustrating because you’re like, I want to tell this story. This is the story I want to tell. And it’s really hard. But I also think that’s tricky because there’s that responsibility we put on ourselves too, right? And so I think, as an actor, I was putting a lot of pressure on myself in the beginning like, I have to hit these specific beats this way in order to tell this story because that’s my job, to deliver and execute one hundred percent of the time. But just because the result is different doesn’t mean I wasn’t truthful. Theater is so much more self-reliant than any other medium I’ve worked in and there’s just—I don’t know—it’s just a really interesting, special journey that you go on that’s unlike anything else and it takes a minute to adjust.
Cariann: What have you learned about Catherine that you didn’t know at the beginning of this run?
Kate: She has such a dry, witty, wicked sense of humor. And I really love that about her. There’s so many behaviors and things she says and doesn’t say that say so much about her. And so I think when I was introduced to Catherine at nineteen, I think my main takeaway was a bit more one-dimensional; that she was someone who was grieving and really dealing with a lot of, what looked like, depression and stuff. Now I just see it as so much more multifaceted and the loneliness she has and the yearning for someone to see her. But I think that her humor has surprised me most of all, like finding that.
Cariann: Yeah, it’s interesting talking about theater being this circular kind of path that you just keep going through because I recently started EMDR therapy. Have you heard of that?
Kate: Oh, nice. I’ve never done it, but I know a lot about it.
Cariann: Yeah. I have done two sessions of EMDR and I had never done it before, but I’ve been in talk therapy for like ten years. Honestly, I was like [EMDR] is fake, I don’t really know if it’s real, I’ll give it a shot. And the last two weeks have just thrown me on my ass. And it’s so interesting because it’s like I’ve only done two sessions and I’ve gone into one particular memory twice now and they were such vastly different experiences.
Kate: Wow.
Cariann: And it’s just like, it’s interesting to think like well, first of all, I want to quit. I don’t think I should.
Kate: No. This is why you shouldn’t quit! And, by the way, praise to you for even doing something new with that. But yeah, that feeling though, like the fact that I want to fucking quit and I hate this so much, that is proof that I’m gonna get to the other side.
Cariann: And the fact that it’s been different both times. The first time I went into this particular memory, I was like whatever. And then for a week after that, I was having really vivid dreams. All this stuff was coming up. I was super tired. My face was breaking out. I was like, “What’s going on?” I had my second session where we went into the memory again and it really started to move, like in the memory I opened a window and I could feel the wind coming through the window, whereas the first time I went in, I was more just an observer. And so it’s just—it’s really scary to not know what’s going to happen next.
Kate: [You] want to close the door.
Cariann: Yeah. But I think the courage to keep going in and trying it again, there’s something to be said for that and I think that’s kind of what you do every night when you go on.
Kate: Yeah, you’re totally right. I mean, I think in general, theater is teaching me to hold things more loosely and that’s not something that comes naturally for me. So just finding the joy and the excitement in not knowing.
Cariann: I know that two things can be true: it can be hard, but it can also be worth it.
Kate: Yeah. And like you said, you know, I feel the same way about this play. After I booked it, I was like, do I want to do a play? Do I even know what the fuck I’m signing up for? And then I was like, I think the fact that I don’t know what I’m doing and that I’m putting myself, willingly, in a situation that is so foreign to me is reason enough for me to want to. And that it scares me! And that I want to back out a little is reason enough that I want to meet the next version of myself after this. And so I need to keep going.
Cariann: I do hope that we never lose that aspect, you know? Like the parts of ourselves that do get scared and we’re like, but I’m going to do it anyway. I feel like it never gets any easier. Like, it really doesn’t.
Kate: Because I think that is such a direct correlation to the selfwork that you’ve done because it’s based on your personal tolerance window, right? If you’re someone that’s willing to put yourself in a place of potential growth and go through what it takes to do that, then that means you have a higher tolerance window and you’ve built up the experiences and that neuroplasticity tells you like, I know that this will benefit me in some way. So, that to me is such a compliment because it means that you’re living a life that isn’t checked out. You’re choosing. That’s how I think there’s proof that it won’t go away because you’ve had these experiences for, however old you are, to prove that.
But it’s funny, I keep saying proof, but that’s obviously another big theme in this play; tangible proof sometimes isn’t enough and there’s just such an element of faith and trust and how fragile that is and how important it is. I mean, I just, for Catherine, being believed doesn’t—it’s like people assume who she is or what she’s capable of or what her limitations are and then she’s put in the position of having to prove that. And it’s like, well, why does she have to prove that? And so it’s just interesting to think of what, when, and where we’re willing to lend faith to in our life and where and when we’re not.
Cariann: And I feel like the same kind of philosophy can be said for so many aspects of our life, like even you or me going into the doctor and saying, “I feel this way. I know that my body is behaving this way. I know that something’s wrong.” There’s so much around that that’s like, what amount of proof will make me feel like this is real?
Kate: Totally. Exactly. And how much of that is like an external validation that we need and why wasn’t [it] enough that I just had it for myself? Catherine has this line in the play where she says, “All that stuff you decided with your buddies, it’s just evidence. It doesn’t prove anything.”
And her love interest, Hal says, “Okay, what would?” And she says, “Nothing. You should have trusted me.” And then that sort of just hangs in the air for a while. That’s sort of the crux of the play: you should have trusted me without the proof.
Then we could also assign that for ourselves. We should have trusted ourselves without the need of external validation or this or that. But yeah, I can’t say enough. David Auburn gave me such a gift when I read this at nineteen and how it spoke to me and mining it now, again, at this age, for new meaning and the way that it’s changing my life now is just again—it’s the greatest privilege of my life. I’m so honored and grateful that this came to me.
“I think the fact that I don’t know what I’m doing and that I’m putting myself, willingly, in a situation that is so foreign to me is reason enough for me to want to. And that it scares me! That I want to back out a little is reason enough that I want to meet the next version of myself after this. And so I need to keep going.”
Cariann: I want to see it. I wish I could see it! The way you describe theater is so beautiful; as this living breathing thing. I was reading this writing book recently and it was talking about how writers write about their obsessions, like they kind of circle the things that haunt them and the questions that kind of sit unrested within them that they need to answer. And you mentioned you want to do directing and stuff. What are the themes that you think will come with the next projects that you take on? Do you think they’ll center around self-belief and these sorts of things?
Kate: I just have to be challenged and I think that that is really enticing to me. So, I don’t know. I love taking on new challenges and that’s what I’m passionate about and so I don’t know what challenge will be calling my name next. But I know I trust myself now and my history enough to know that wherever my interest is being pulled and it’s something new and challenging, there’s another version of myself at the other side. And I’m going to take that challenge no matter what it is. I’m getting better, I think, now at just knowing that the fact that I want to take on a challenge is enough and not needing to explain or analyze it too much. We’ll see.
Cariann: That gives me a lot of hope, Kate. I really appreciate that.
Kate: Oh, I’m so glad to hear that. I feel like you approach your life the same way.
Cariann: I try to. It’s hard to see the other side though, when you kind of feel like you’re in the midst of it. But to your point, I was actually talking to a friend yesterday and I was talking about how I really wanted to give up on EMDR, and I’m still considering it, but I know that my window—I like, verbatim, said this—I know that my window for tolerance, for discomfort probably mirrors my ability to experience joy and excitedness and happiness.
Kate: And if you can raise one then the other one is raised too.
Cariann: I do have problems sometimes feeling relief and happiness and [being] proud of myself, and maybe, if I do this work, it’ll make that easier next time.
Kate: First of all, I applaud you for that, but that’s kind of how my brain works too. I’m like, okay, I have this goal, I want to see a version of myself where I want to be this and so if I do this then that will get me there. And it’s funny because it’s like yes, maybe. And that could be true for now, but also, you don’t even know the potential of what this experience could bring you. That it’s also probably going to bring other things about that you didn’t even—like yes, that relief and the joy and those things might be there but also, you might find more strength; it doesn’t always look like you get the thing that you wanted, sometimes it’s better, sometimes it’s a little this way or that way or there’s all these different colors of the benefits. I think that it’s really admirable and commendable that you’re living your life in a way that’s challenging and pushing you to grow more.
Cariann: Well, yeah, I could say the same for you!
Kate: Yeah, thanks.
Cariann: I do feel like I’m in this stage where I’m trying to do a lot of that work.
Kate: Which at any age in your life is so hard and good to tackle, but I just think that I don’t want to live a life that’s stagnant and sounds like you don’t either. To me, that’s a life well-lived and that’s a life that means something; is just knowing yourself well enough to know every part of yourself and push yourself and not just go through the mundane stuff. I mean, that’s like the scariest—which interestingly for Catherine that’s where she’s faced with her own brilliance and her own talent in writing this incredible proof that no one could ever imagine her doing and she sees that she’s done it and then she locks it away in a drawer and doesn’t tell anyone.
I think, partially because her dad at the time has just—I’m trying to think of a way to say this without spoiling too much—but her dad has just recently shared that he’s feeling like he’s back and he’s on top of his work and he’s making these incredible discoveries. And after watching someone mentally deteriorate in front of your eyes, she knows that it’s easier for [her] to lock this away; I can’t possibly share this with him because it’s too risky. But it’s funny because Catherine herself too, like she’s more comfortable…they always say ‘all you do is go out and buy magazines and you’re just flipping through your magazines and you’re wasting your time and you’re watching TV and you’re eating junk food’. And it’s true. It’s because her window of discomfort is like, she’s not able to face that she created something brilliant and she has such potential because she doesn’t think that there’s space for that in the shadow of her dad and so it’s easier to just put that away. It forces you to be very self-reflective, too, which are my favorite plays.
Cariann: There’s a lot there to be said for how we account for our parents and their feelings and I feel like a lot of people can probably relate to that.
Kate: Yeah, totally. And how you separate. I mean, how you take care of someone later in their life, a parent; she sacrificed herself basically for years taking care of him, and so there was no room for her to have a sense of self. So then when that’s gone, it’s like she’s in this limbo of like, well, who am I now? What's left of me? Do I dare to dream of what I could become? There’s all of those questions too of Catherine also leaping into the unknown and what she’s previously felt was safe. So yeah, it's a very layered play.
Cariann: I can’t wait to read it.
Kate: Yeah, you should read it—what do you write? Do you write like plays or films or?
Cariann: No, I’m working on a novel.
Kate: Oh, beautiful.
Cariann: With Kass who I run l’Odet with. We’re working on a novel together and then I have some other projects that are just mine.
Kate: You should read the play and see what you think. And how did you get the name l’Odet?
Cariann: Oh, I originally started this website called Midnight Woman. I started that during the Me Too movement, or maybe right after, just as a place where people could submit anonymous stories and experiences of things that they had survived because I needed to release my own demon into the ether. After that had been live for a little bit, in 2018, I was like, it would be really cool to have conversations with people about this kind of stuff, but like people that are named, not anonymous. And Midnight Woman, the name came from this French ghost story. And l’Odet is a river in France. So, I kind of connected them that way. It’s not very deep. And then l’Odet just kind of became its own thing. It was an accident!
Kate: The best things are.
Cariann: I just feel so lucky to get an hour of someone’s time. And it’s hard with the politics of this industry and like, I don’t know, some things are really hard, but it’s like, man, sitting here for a conversation, just talking about real shit it’s like, that’s the good stuff.
Well, what else is on your mind? What else is lighting you up right now?
Kate: I’m just really focused on the play and on Catherine and it’s been such a rewarding experience. The cast is incredible, too, and have been so gracious in the way that they’ve allowed me to explore something totally new. That’s been really like something that’s really beautiful. I’m just sort of like in it right now.
Cariann: Is there an end date to the run?
Kate: Yes, we end November 8th. So, we’re going to Phoenix next, which will be the 17th or 18th [of October]. And then we have a two week run in Phoenix, I think it is, or maybe three. And then we wrap in Phoenix on November 8th.
Cariann: Wow. Do you have any hopes for how you’ll feel by the end?
Kate: It’s funny. I dread it. I dread the ending. My dad was planning the other day what we’re going to do afterwards and I was like, no, don’t break this spell. I’m so sad to have to leave this forever. It’s just been so rewarding, too. It’s just been an amazing experience that came about by happenstance in such a special way that I just feel like a very spiritual connection for me and I feel very close to myself and excited and so I’m sad to leave it.
I think at the end, I hope that… I mean, I think there’s been moments throughout where I think one of the things I underestimated, and again, [my mom] has been in theater all her life. And so, I have seen it all my life. And I remember we were, gosh, I think we were seeing something. We were seeing a client of hers in something. We were maybe like sixteen. And we were so tired and it was the end of the show and we clapped but we didn’t stand up. And I remember when we got in the car she said, “Every single person on that stage is working their ass off more than you could ever understand. Stand up.” And I’ll never forget that. And I think of it now. I really, drastically underestimated the stamina that theater demands. And so even having been someone that’s been on set for hours and having worked in daytime before where you do 104 pages a day, I mean I think that I just had no idea the stamina and the constant—you know, there’s nowhere to hide in theater. It’s just you out there. I’m going to miss so much about it. I’m going to miss everything that it’s required of me and I’m excited to hopefully do more of it, you know.
Cariann: I do think that, I don’t know, maybe this is a little woowoo, but I feel like there’s pieces of art that just circle us as human beings. Like when I was in France studying abroad, I saw Monet’s water lilies and now I live by Carnegie Museum and I can go sit in front of them and reflect on how much I’ve changed. And it’s so fascinating that you’re kind of circling this story and I feel like the end of this run is not goodbye.
Kate: It’s funny too because it’s like they’re your old friends, right? You go back and you see them. There’s a great quote by this amazing graphic design artist Austin Cleon and he says “travel is the secret tonic to creativity because when you come back everything is the same, but you’ve completely changed. and that changes everything.”
And so I think that’s true of Monet’s water lilies or anything. You can have this relationship with these pieces of art that like, the play is still the same, the piece of art is still the same, but you’ve changed. And so then that changes everything. And that’s something that’s really special and true for me with Proof. I don’t know. I feel very grateful and fortunate to have played Catherine for this run and for that to be my introduction into theater is just such a sweet full circle moment.
Cariann: Yeah. And on any given night, you could be giving someone their first experience of it as well.
Kate: We had a student matinée the other day. That was really interesting to hear the students talk about what stood out to them and how they felt. And when we leave every night, hearing people who are so generous stop us and say how it impacted them or younger people say like, “I saw this with my sister and it made us really think about how we’re going to care for our parents and how we can’t lose each other in that.” Things like the way that at its best, art always forces us to think and change our lives in some way. That’s really cool to be part of.
Cariann: Honestly, I can’t think of a better ending note. You’ve given me some hope today. I really appreciate your time and your openness.
Kate: Yeah. I’m proud of you. Stay with it. You might not know until the very end of your run with EMDR what’s happening, but you know it’s good.
This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
INTERVIEW BY Cariann Bradley | EDITED BY Kass Ringo | PHOTOS BY Jackson Davis | design by Madeline Westfall