Actor - Fight Choreographer - Intimacy Director - Teaching Artist
Kate Lass is a Chicago-based actor, fight choreographer, stage combat instructor, and intimacy director. Originally from Nashville, TN, Kate moved to Chicago to attend Columbia College, where she graduated in 2014 with a BA in Acting and minors in Stage Combat and English Literature. Since then, her work has been seen all over Chicago, including at Kokandy Productions, Strawdog Theatre, Teatro Vista, and The Barrens Theatre Company. Outside of Chicago, she has choreographed for Nashville Repertory Theatre, Act I Theatre, and Berry College Theatre Company.
Kate is a Certified Teacher with the International League of Fight Directors and Choreographers, an Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, and an Associate Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. She has also trained with the British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat, Theatrical Intimacy Education, Intimacy Directors International, Intimacy Professionals Education Collective, and The Association of Mental Health Coordinators.
In 2023, Kate founded a new stage combat training studio, Strike & Reason, with the mission of bringing more stage combat training opportunities to working professionals in the Chicago theatre community. She has also taught at BroadwayCon, Open Gate Movement Arts, numerous SAFD regional workshops, local theaters and high schools, and the Actors Gymnasium, where she teaches private classes as well as regularly assisting Skills Proficiency Classes under SAFD Fight Master Chuck Coyl.
You can find Kate and her colleagues leading workshop classes and more at Strike & Reason.
And you can see Kate's work right now in Two Out of Three Falls, at the Factory Theater, running through July 18.
Other upcoming projects:
Uncle Vanya, Aston Rep - Intimacy Director - June 18-July 5
Chicago Clash Stage Combat Workshop - Instructor - June 20
A Body of Water, Elsinore Ensemble - Fight Choreographer - November 5-22